Re: [Children_with_special_needs] Share your milestones, 12/3/2011, 6:00 am

[Guest guest]

Hey all. 

I think that I may have updated already on his inclusion status but....

Alden will be 10 on Monday!  He is so amazing!  He is so excited to finally be

old enough to get his own Military I.D. card.  He always wants to " show " it when

we go through gates and now, as soon as I schedule the appointment, he will be

able to do so.  That is a big deal to our military kids!  He requested " Happy

Feet Two " for his birthday movie this weekend, also.  So that will happen this

evening.

He is, of course, missing his dad terribly.  We all miss him a great deal.

 Cannot wait for this deployment to be over!  The girls, Hannah (15) and

(13... 14 on Jan 7) really miss their dad, too, but they have been troopers and

are very helpful.  I love my kids and think that they are wonderful and they all

3 bless my life daily!

Alden is doing very well in full inclusion, grade 2.  He does get pulled out

about an 1.5 hrs or so for LA/Math work 4 days a week. He has an aid part of the

day but not all of the day.  He goes to the Kinder class at the end of the day

for their " specials " , hands on reinforcement time because that is where his fine

motor skills are best met.  He gets excellent reports daily.  Once he was given

the opportunity for inclusion, he jumped right onto the band wagon and showed

everyone that he could and would behave, work, and participate.  I love it that

the dodea school here is meeting Alden " where he is " and accommodating his needs

instead of their own.  It works when schools and teachers are supportive.

I wish others could " get it " ... that if our children are put into exclusive

environments that they will " act the part " .  It all depends upon the make up of

the classroom.  Face it... even in " inclusive " environments, children copy each

other and not everything is acceptable.  But it is so much easier teaching him

right from wrong in an inclusive setting. It was much harder explaining to him

that his friend in exclusion, who did not speak, did not participate, and

self-stemmed most of the day was OK for that child but not for him!  I find it

much easier to teach Alden right from wrong... when he comes home with a dirty

word from a second grader for example, to explain that those words are not

acceptable in our home.  Now, his friends with more severe special needs are

better understood by Alden because he is in an inclusive setting, models after

the other kids without special needs, is becoming more independent at an

accelerated rate in comparison to

the exclusive setting in El Paso, and he still is VERY compassionate toward the

children who do need to be in exclusion due to multiple needs or needing that

smaller one on one environment with less chaos. Fortunately, here at Devers

Elementary at Fort Bragg, they seem to really care about the individual student,

no matter what their needs.  They do have a smaller exclusive environment yet

they get each child into an inclusive setting as much as possible depending upon

what each child can handle.  They then have the regular " Spec. Ed. " classroom,

where any child may be brought in depending upon their need.  Kids that just

need a bit of reading help, kids like Alden who need more 1-1 assistance for

their LA/Math, kids who might not be getting Math but are doing well in

everything else... a real inclusive Spec. Ed. setting.  And then, they encourage

full inclusion whenever possible.

Alden does very well in his classroom on all other subjects, such as science,

health, PE, labs, etc.  He is reading nicely and math, while still needing a lot

more assistance, is coming along.  I couldn't be happier and HE is SO HAPPY at

school!  Of course, we will move again and then have to start all over BUT now I

have PROOF and an IEP that SUPPORTS what I have been requesting for so many

years.  Yeah!  

We still struggle with potty training.  He stays dry at school all day and at

home, IF he is reminded to go " empty " every hour or so.  But he saves the BM's

for me.  He still will not poop on the pot.  I do feel as though I am dealing

with the low muscle tone and readiness plus some control issues in this

department but he recognizing the need earlier and earlier, telling me about it

when it happens, and going into the bathroom on his own to deal with it.  Slowly

but surely... he will get there.  He obviously has enough control to save it for

home and not do it at school, so there must be some control.  I just think that

he relaxes enough at home to " let it go " .  Now if we can just get him to " let

go " in the pot!

Thanks for being here... even if I don't post as often as I would like.

 Kiersten