Out of town Wednesday night through yesterday evening at the regional music therapy conference in Newport. Andey & boys joined me Friday & Saturday. I basically bounced around like tigger all of Wednesday after we found out Marlborough said "uncle." Popped champagne with Lisa & John Wednesday night & with Carylbeth, Michele & Laurie Thursday night. Highly important to acknowledge the best news we've had in three years.
Joa had a great weekend, relishing in his brother's good fortune & his moms' energy & joy. He co-MC'd the traditional conference cabaret in his white tuxedo, with tails. Stunningly handsome. Lars has been up & down: bad day Friday, then high-maintenance interspersed with pain Saturday & this morning. By this afternoon he was pain-free & charming again. Lars was so miserable upon arrival in Newport Friday it took him nearly an hour to calm enough to recognize I was there with him.
Tomorrow is wrap-up meeting with Marlborough schools wherein they approve Lars' referral to an outside placement. I believe they have to send packets to different schools & we may have to go observe several as a formality. They already called Perkins last week: "if we should have to make a referral on Monday, would you have space for a three-year-old?" We have a message detailing what they'll need from us, and we hope to get the process rolling quickly. No idea how long transportation will take to arrange.
When I think about the reality of it, I'm truly so excited I can hardly contain myself. Such a dramatic turn-around. Three weeks ago I kept thinking, "No matter what I do, it seems I can't keep him comfortable/out of pain-free & I can't get him the right educational placement." It was devastating. Now we're down to an occasional bad day (even a bad day now isn't as bad as it was) & the best educational placement we could hope for. It's downright thrilling.
My take on the combination of factors that turned the school tide:
-no TVI
-saw him in person & how he didn't fit their classroom; witnessed pain & fussiness
-having observed Lars in the classroom, we could give many specific examples of how & why its not the right place
-the applesauce story
-no TVI
-Suzie calling principal after we felt slimed by team leader
-above call led to meeting with principal & team leader together wherein principal was warm & easy to talk with & listened & understood & showed her true mensch colors
-overall civility of our approach & our advocate's too
-no TVI
-keeping my"'I've-worked-in-special-ed-for-a-number-of-years" and my 'I'm-in-the-TVI-program-@-UMass" cards in my pocket until last week's meeting, and then playing them
-no TVI
-advocate then calling principal the morning after the meeting & saying she's recommending to us that we go to hearing if the team doesn't come to consensus that an outside placement is in his best interest
-no TVI
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment