Living in pain half my life has taught me how to advocate for myself. I have learned how to find the good doctors who are knowledgable in RSD and SCS. When I was working I had to learn how to fight for my rights and I learned that there are some battles you cannot win. I have even learned how to publicly advocate for RSD to promote awareness. I guess learning to advocate for myself was a lesson in life to prepare me to advocate for my children.
Learning how to advocate for my child's best education is something new for me. I have to guard my body against the stress of the situation so I don't end up with a flair, I am not doing well in that department. My children come first so if I need to fight for them while I am in pain then so be it. I have already made the first mistake in advocating, I led with my emotions. I am human and I am their mother so I do have an emotional take in what happens to them.
What a year this has been! 2012 saw me with my fathers health issues and my own colliding at the same time we began Early Intervention for Lucas' speech problems. In September 2012 a new school year started and soon enough it was announced that Gabriel was struggling for the first time in school. 2013 began with both boys having evaluations. My father and I are both on the mend. Now both of my boys have Individualized Education Plans. I am still trying to wrap my head around it all. I have faith that God trusts that I can handle this. So I turn to my blog to keep track and chronicle our journey. Thankfully my questions have reached others who are able to lend me their wisdom and support! I reach back to what I have always believed about my RSD, to get through anything you need to have a solid foundation of support.
I know my first step is to make sure a great IEP is in place for both children. How do we get there when we have a communication problem with the Child Study Team and teachers? Some of the advice I have been given is to try to keep emotion out of it and to ask pointed questions. If I do not understand then rephrase the question. I am also bringing a family friend to be a second set of ears for me. Also, I am recording the meeting so that I do not need to take notes making it so that I can focus more on my questions and what is being said. I have joined online support groups. Read through the booklets the Child Study Team has given me. I have researched information regarding my boys problems and looked into what accomodations/modifications are proven to be the most helpful. I think I am prepared for the meeting, some extra prayers won't hurt though!
What comes next? Is a great IEP enough? School's cannot diagnose specific learning disabilities but they can help remediate the problem. Do we need to seek a Neurodevelopmental Pediatrician and have them evaluated for a medical diagnoses? Will it make a difference in their education? Should we get Gabe a tutor and Lucas a private Speech Language Pathologist? Do we just sit back wait and see? If someone told me last year that Gabriel had a learning disability I would have laughed in their faces. Then again I didn't know there is a learning disability that has to deal with handwriting. I have always known he had an issue with handwriting. So what if there is something going on that we do not have the information about? Then again what if nothing is really wrong besides his handwriting disorder?
There are no easy answers.
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