All About "Lefty": Overdue December Update

I just realized that I never updated after my last "vent" post.

So we had the meeting and I think it went well.

The good news: there is a new OT at the school and so far I like her A LOT. She seems really with it, on top of things, etc. Complete 180 from the other OT so far. She totally agreed with me about the handwriting goal and said she was "surprised that he didn't already have one." We added it to his IEP. Boom. Just like that. Easy-peasy. Yay.

In the end, I didn't push adding extra hours of OT because they showed me that he was already almost caught up on hours. I have the OT's email and she responds when I email her (something that never happened with the other OT) and see I her around the school (also something that never happened with the other OT)...I'm feeling comfortable with her and with the team's promise that they will "stay on top of it". Trust me...I will keep on them!

Curtis' speech therapist came in and said that he is doing great. She is going to do a formal evaluation on him in a few months and we are all meeting again to review that evaluation. It is her belief that he will be ready to be released from speech. I have talked to some friends who have kids or have had their kids in speech and they have mixed feelings about this. If anyone has any advice for me about this, please let me know. Curtis has been in speech therapy since he was a baby. On the one hand, I think I'm almost afraid to let him leave speech therapy. Like--what will he do without it? Will he be OK? And on the other hand, I think--WOW, look at him! I never in a bazillion years thought he'd make it this far. To think that we went from being told he may never speak, to having him bounce out of speech therapy before he starts elementary school. It's really unbelievable.

His preschool teacher was at the meeting. I had told her a few days before that I didn't think she needed to be present at the meeting, but now I'm glad she was there. She really backed me up on a few things, which was great. She also piped in that Curtis' social skills were really "blossoming" this year. It's always nice to hear things like that.

We are all meeting again in a few months. That is when we discuss the speech eval and I think we might also have an early chat about kindergarten. I did ask if they thought he'd be placed in a kinder class at his brother and sister's school. Unfortunately, they can't really say--it's all a matter of what is best for him and every school in the district has something a little different in terms of what they offer for kids with special needs. Of course I want the best fit for Curtis, but I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't be a huge disappointment for him to be at a school other than our "home school". His big sister, especially, would be devastated. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, but we are getting there so soon! EEK! Unreal.

Other news: Curtis is still swimming, although he's been sidelined a few times by ear infections. I have to be more diligent about putting in swim ear drops after his lessons. He has had outer ear infections, or swimmer's ear. They clear up fast, but are no fun while they are there. He is still working on his front breath and they are also now working on teaching him some elementary back stroke since he is so good at floating on his back!