The war wages on!

I realize that we are blessed. I know that AJ has made incredible progress through the support and hard work of many people. I get that there are so many families struggling with apraxia that don't have the access to the resources we do- people in rural communities or in other low-population places where SLP's may have had no experience with apraxic kids. I understand all of this and believe me I am very, very grateful.

I still feel extremely frustrated that the school district makes everything such a battle. All I want to do is spend the day (2.5 hours) observing my child in his calssroom. At the IEP his teachers had concerns about AJ's socialization and lack of interaction. This is not like my son. He won't talk to me about his day, he cries when it is time to go to his "new school" These reasons and the lack of any quality communication are giving me reason for concern.

The teachers would only let me observe for 30 minutes which is ridiculous. They told me it was policy. I asked for it in writing and was told it wasn't in writing. They didn't want other children upset. What if someone acts out? I reminded them of what I do for a living. I let them know that I have seen children act out and I don't believe that they only act out in front of observers.

I spoke to the director of the program. She talked over me while I tried to explain my concerns and basically yelled at me when I insisted that I be allowed to observe for the entire day. We agreed that I would observe for 1.5 hours and that if it wasn't disruptive I would stay longer.

Somehow getting this much pushback about my desire to observe does not leave me feeling confident that all is as it should be.

I am sure that AJ is feeling intimidated since there are children in his new school have a broader range of issues and behavior problems than in his old program. I am okay with this as long as he is getting what he needs from the new school. I just would like to be able to discuss these things with hima nd help him process what is going on in the room.

My biggest concern is that they do not communicate and don't know my child after months of working with him. If this is not the right placement for him I will pull him out and bring him to my center full-time. There are a lot of people working very hard to trasnport him back and forth to this half day program and it is such a challenge that there is no point doing it if he is not gaining anything.

I observe tomorrow. I know that the last program left me with high expectations but I feel that these kids deserve the best. Not some half-hearted, bare minimum attempt to address their issues so that the district can say that they are providing special-ed for preschoolers. We'll see. I'm trying to keep an open mind!