You've Come a Long Way Baby!!!

This picture was taken of Emily on our family vacation just before she headed into PreK4 summer school at the South Bergen Jointure in their High Functioning Autistic Program. Its hard to fathom where she was at then, the amazing progress she has made and now will be heading into 3rd grade general education next year.

It has not been an easy journey and it is no way over but the strides Emily has made and the amazing people who have helped along the way have made it so much more doable.

We had Emily's follow-up IEP meeting to discuss her needs for 3rd grade. I have to tell you I am a little scared. This is a transitional year in the dynamics of the classroom (assignment notebooks, changing classrooms for math and language) and in curriculum (times tables, here we come). I thank God we have an IEP in place. It puts my mind at ease. Also, the case worker she has is Emily's biggest advocate and will move mountains for her.

At this point, I'm waiting to have a meeting with principal next month so we can express our concerns, so he can take them into consideration while making the teacher selection for next year. Next year will require me to be a little more involved, this year was very relaxed in comparison.

The issues where Emily still struggles is in Math - money and time. Money has been her nemesis since it was first introduced. She loves spending it though. Most of her struggles are in regard to multiple step concepts. Sometimes she can just get the concept first try but the majority of the time, it is a struggle until we have worked it for quite a while and even then if not regularly reviewed it can get lost and has to be relearned. In reading, it has more to do with having to answer abstract questions from a story. Emily is very factual, so if you are looking for a moral to a story or a what if or why question, it just doesn't come. She is still working in speech on her expressive speech and writing.

Emily's grades are all A's & B's and if you look at that you may think "why does she need and IEP?" but let me tell you a lot of work and sometimes tears (on both our parts) goes into achieving and keeping those grades.

So, as this year ends and the summer comes, please pray that God puts Emily with the right teacher from the start, that that teacher is receptive to an involved parent and that Emily will soak in the curriculum and thrive as best she can.

Like I said, Emily has come a long way from that little antisocial, creative loner who couldn't really express her needs or wants. Praise be to God for opening our eyes to her needs and for the people He has brought into her life on this amazing and continuing journey.