Tuesday we had a meeting at school. It was not an IEP – and I drove up in shock to realize we still haven’t actually had one for Zoe. It was a technology assessment, in which we met with an expert from the school district to discuss assisstive technology for Zoe to better communicate.
It was a really good session! We discussed both her strengths and weaknesses, and her learning style, and what would cause a negative reaction from her. It was good to get down to brass tacks, and the woman from the district was organized, clear, and knew her sh-, I mean stuff 🙂 She also clearly emphasized that home was very different than school, and what was done or not done there didn’t have as great an effect as they might think. That said, we came up with ideas and systems that would also help me begin discussions after school with Zoe about her day and lay the groundwork for homework. (She has some now, just reading, but it’s hard to get her to attend to a book.)
What really heartened me, though, was that at the end. We all came to the agreement that we had only been discussing strategies to help Zoe cope, and that we were not really addressing her academics at this point at all. However, everyone at the table who knew her agreed that she was smart – I mean, there was NO doubt in their mind – and the hope was there that if we could just get her on a path to more compliance and better management of expectations and frustrations, that we could move on to academics.
It gives me so much hope to hear that. “Smart” is a word I don’t like anymore, not because my kids have disabilities, but because I’ve realized that like the word “normal”, there is no clear definition of what it means and it’s very leading. I also dislike that “smart” seems to mean “born with it”, and I believe that you can learn (or not learn) anything within the reasonable limits of your intellectual abilities. (For example, I can’t seem to grasp object oriented programming, but oh, how I love calculus. Go figure.)
Not only that, but I believe that learning, can come through reading, which you would think means that I’m keen on getting my kids to read. I am, but I’ve really failed on this one. I am trying so hard, but part of the issue is getting them to sit still through a book – so a 15 minute reading session becomes 40 minutes of me hunting and holding them. Doing what I can, but honestly, part of the dilemma is that I’m so wiped out by days end that a hunt and peck game of book reading sounds like torture to me. Moms, we NEED to take care of ourselves before we had over the reigns of every free moment in our life to the kids.
Ok, I’m done. Wish I had new, great photos of Zoe to share for this post, but I don’t 🙁
frugal baby says
To engage them more while reading try asking kids questions and being dramatic with the story. Our kid tend to focus more when they feel like they are being entertained.
admin says
Yes, I do…it’s getting them to pay attention at all that’s the struggle, just to even sit still while the story is being read.