08 May 2013

Bye Bye Preschool

Liam is hitting a big milestone this month. He is finishing up his preschool years and will be leaving behind the slew of therapists and teachers we've come to know and love over the last few years. We will be saying good-bye and starting a new adventure with new therapists and new teachers when he starts KINDERGARTEN this fall.

We have had some tough decisions to make as to what is in the best interests of Liam for his education. I have felt pressure to put Liam in the school setting for numerous reasons, with the most important reason being that he would be able to learn (which he loves to do) and be visited by therapists better than what he could receive at home. If we decided to homeschool Liam like we do our other kids, Liam would only be able to receive minimal services from already overloaded therapists who would have to take their primary caseloads first then fit Liam in if they could. UNLESS Liam would be determined medically unfit for school, then he would be a primary student for them and would receive proper amounts of services.

Liam isn't medically fragile though. It can be said that there is a definite safety concern because he does have an airway issue that remains a high concern for me. He also has a tiny issue I might have mentioned here before: he throws up a lot. Last year, I felt that the teachers and therapists didn't feel Liam needed a one on one and was told it's very unlikely he would get one (that it's very rare) which had me very, very concerned about sending him off to kindergarten. After that IEP I let the school year transpire with out much concern about kindergarten. I knew I wouldn't feel safe leaving Liam without a one on one and figured I would be telling them as much when the end of this year came around.

We are now gearing up for a final big meeting to prepare everyone for Liam's arrival. There are a lot of reports to go through. His file is huge. He isn't a simple placement. He could honestly go either way: home bound or in a special needs classroom. We could surely have the airway concern and vomiting issue be such an issue that it allows Liam to be home bound. Or, we could insist on the one one one so that Liam is getting the proper care while receiving an education that Liam deserves.

However we decide, there has been numerous therapists, teachers, psychologists, and us parents going over all of his files and wanting to do what's best for Liam.
post signature