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Speak Up!

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When we went in for the IEP in April, we asked the city to provide ESY services for speech therapy, at the very least.  Because their speech therapist hadn’t sent a new report that proved her concern that there’d be some regression (she only sent a letter stating in three paragraphs that she was concerned at the possibility, without evidence), the city denied the request.

Now, it’s not like he’s not had speech therapy over the summer.  My insurance is covering a session a week at the Hearing and Speech Agency (HASA), and he’s attending a special day-camp three mornings a week that provides more speech therapy. Continue reading →

I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.

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As I’ve more than alluded to, the Monster’s first IEP meeting was not a process that I particularly care to repeat anytime soon.

I was informed by our advocate that the average IEP meeting takes about two to three hours.  I was told by the dads’ support group members that a five hour IEP meeting is not particularly unheard of for a first-time through the process… Continue reading →

Forecasting

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Parents of children with ASDs are, I’m sure, aware of one of the biggest things we can do to ensure that our children behave themselves – make sure that there’s a factor of predictability to what’s going on.  The Monster, for example, knows his schedule well – whether he sticks to it himself is another matter altogether, but.

Of course, going on a trip means throwing that all into chaos. Continue reading →

Out and About

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Summer is the time of year where we have a bit more free time – especially before the Monster starts public preschool in the fall – to actually do a bit of wandering about on recreational activities.

By far, the most frequent place we go is the pool at the JCC – it’s something we’ve paid for already and it’s an activity that he enjoys, as well as an environment where any behavioral issues aren’t going to be as apparent.  (Well, save perhaps for in the kiddy pool if he’s taking too much time with other kids’ toys, though most parents understand that any unattended toys in that pool are fully up for grabs.) Continue reading →

Echo… echo… echo…

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We all know that we’re supposed to watch what we say in front of young children.  As a child, I’ll admit that I did have a tendency (and yes, I still do at times) to repeat phrases and dialogue that I found particularly amusing, and not always at the most appropriate circumstances.  Now that I have kids of my own, I really do try to watch how much ‘inspiration’ I give them for such behavior. Continue reading →

Push The Button

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For anyone who didn’t see the 60 Minutes segment either the first time it aired or on this weekend, it’s available online here.

When the Monster was 2, he really wasn’t verbal in the slightest.  Certainly, he had a good mass of words to pull from, but was using a single word at most for communicating his wants and needs.  Baltimore City Infants and Toddlers Program put him into the PIES program, where they introduced us to the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) which was a marvel to us – suddenly, he could follow a schedule, show us what he wanted within a selection of limited choices, and it helped to foster his development of the canned phrases he’s using today. Continue reading →

Slower than Usual

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As I mentioned in yesterday’s post – I’ve been under the weather.  Being sick tends to do all sorts of hellish things to one’s schedule (and not just in the sense of having me post quite a bit later than I usually do).

Likewise, the Monster’s schedule got thrown off, further proof that he’s been suffering through being sick.  Last night, before he went to bed, he was finally done coughing and wheezing, and we thought that everything would be fine coming into the week. Continue reading →

Under the Weather

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So, somewhere in the last few days, both the Monster and I came down with something.  (Which is why this one’s a bit shorter than my norm – I’m still quite under the weather myself.)

I’m only assuming he must have caught it at one of his camps because no one around me in the office has seemed ill.  Of course, the biggest problem is since he’s not the most verbal, we can’t ask him if he’s been feeling unwell. Continue reading →

Boing Boing Boing

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When the Monster had his IEP meeting a few months ago, one of his providers had recommended an end to his physical therapy.

Now, he’s hardly uncoordinated or a threat to himself when navigating around.  The boy does like to run, and he’s got decent motion even on uneven ground.  Our major protest was the fact that he’s still not doing some of the age-appropriate behaviors, like switching feet while ascending/descending stairs. Continue reading →

Sometimes, It Is About Me

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So we’re part way through the summer – if I read my calendar right, we’re about seven weeks from the start of the Monster’s first year of public school.  (And that’s weird enough to think about.)

The other thing that happens over the summer is that my employer announces the latest slate of employees who have been selected for our in-house leadership-training program.  Unlike last year, I didn’t bother to do more than scan the message to see if anyone from our office was selected. Continue reading →