Elections and IEP's and Baseball, Oh My!!

Wow.....what a historic moment for our country. Absolutely incredible and awesome.... and that's all I'll say here on that subject ;-)

We had Bubby's IEP meeting last week. It went so incredibly well.....so smoothly. It was everything we'd hoped for, and then some. Bubby has 5 academic goals to work on and there are some additional goals for social skills that are being added..... the final copy should come home in the next 2 weeks or so. After it was all over, it was like a huge HUGE weight came off my shoulders....I was so relieved. Relieved that it was over (the whole dreaded "first meeting" thing) and relieved that it went so well. The team had some fantastic goals in place and accommodations set up that we hadn't even thought of! With his handwriting being as bad as it is, it of course figures into his goals (2 of them as a matter of fact).....what we didn't anticipate was the accommodation he has been given. Whenever he has an assignment, classwork or homework, that is more than 3 written sentences.....he's been provided with an Alpha Smart to do his work. It's awesome.....his teachers can hook it right up to their computers and download his work to be graded! When he has state/district wide assessments that are all handwritten, the school will provide someone to scribe his answers for him, or, if no one is available, he can use the Alpha Smart. They are doing something called a Sensory Diet (great site and info). Now, I'd never heard of something like this before.... they explained that they will be doing joint compression for Proprioceptive input, brushing (using a brush like a fingernail scrub brush) lightly up and down his arms and some kind of physical activity ie, wheelbarrow walk, carrying books from one room to another etc..... He does the Sensory Diet every day, 2X's a day-morning and afternoon. This should help him become more aware of where his body is in space--he has no concept of other people's personal space because he isn't aware of his own body's space. It so hard to explain sometimes!!!

Something else that's hard to explain? My feelings last Sunday afternoon when I was watching my dad play baseball with Bubby. Bubby doesn't like physical activities/sports etc because he lacks the coordination and other skills to do them. But, for whatever reason, Bubby wanted to and so out they went to the backyard with an aluminum bat and tennis ball to play. Mom and the rest of us went too (Randy and I and Little Man) ....we played with Loki Baby (mom and dad's Rottweiler) and Little Man played on the swing set. But what caught my attention was Dad and Bubby. Dad was pitching to him and he would actually hit the ball a time or two, then miss a few..... Dad went out and helped him adjust his hold on the bat -showing him how to hold it so when he swings it doesn't arc up but rather straight out. After Dad showed him that, he went back and threw a pitch....and Bubby hit it, and he hit it good. The LOOK on Bubby's face.....it was a look of PURE JOY. A spontaneous reaction to something in his environment.....those moments are so few and far between.....I can't even begin to tell you how it felt to me. I literally had to turn away because I started crying. I wish, oh how I wish, that I'd had my camera out there and ready. Instead, I grabbed that moment and I will hold it close to my heart. Like I said, few and far between. At least for now.....