First Day of School...Sort of

Wednesday was Kindergarten Orientation. Not to be confused with Kindergarten Round-Up. That took place in May. Or Kindergarten Registration. That took place following Kindergarten Round-Up. No, Kindergarten Orientation was what we had yesterday and consists of everyone dressing their child in new school clothes only to go to school for one hour, parents sitting in tiny chairs listening to the teachers explain discipline procedures, snack sign-up, and how to pick up the children in an orderly fashion, while the children learn proper bathroom-requesting techniques and other equally critical information. In truth I think the whole thing was a clever ruse to keep parents from clogging the classroom on the REAL first day of school in order to ascertain that same information.

It was a little unnerving to walk into the room, knowing that the kindergarten staff has already heard all about your child. Based on the information they had they certainly would have preconceived ideas about him...and us. ("Ah, so THAT'S him. And THOSE are his parents.") It was hard not to be paranoid. Honestly, I was more nervous about the impression we made on the staff than I was about anything else. We have had many hurtful experiences in the last month and it really has put me on the defensive.
I think I mentioned before that we already knew to which teacher he was assigned. We had never really actually met her, however. I was so glad to finally do so. I have really high hopes for his success in her classroom. She is just about the most perfect fit for him that one could ask for, praise God.
Our last classroom experience was so unique, it was hard to know what to expect when seeing him in a group of "normal" children, all strangers. He was a bit hesitant at first to leave for the other room with all the kids, but he said goodbye as he did so -- which is a big thing, in and of itself. He also waved to us upon his return. The children were asked to sit on a rug full of colored squares and, lo and behold, he held out for an orange square, his favorite color, despite having to sort of squish into that spot. He's so particular about those sorts of things! I wouldn't be surprised if he sat in that exact square all year long!
Overall, he did very well with his little hour of school -- it was afterward that was a nightmare. All the conflicting emotions and new situations and information to process left him in quite a manic state. He was wild and angry and a big flailing mess all day long. I'm counting on tomorrow afternoon, following his first full day of school, being just as bad. I'm very confident that he will be fine while he is actually at school. That's just the way it works...until he gets bored. We'll just watch and see! Another thing of which I'm confident? He is SO ready to be at school. And I am SO ready for him to be there!
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In other news, we continue to plod our way through the five hour RDI DVD. We can only do so much at a time, as we rarely have time together and it is A LOT of information to process...especially after a long day. It looks like it would be such a wonderful program for him, if we could actually implement it. And afford it. Its in my prayer journal, to be sure!

Also, be sure to check out the update on our adoption site!

Small Steps

Realizing that it has been quite some time since I have posted regarding our son's circumstances, I thought I would tackle it tonight. Before I do so, I have to confess that my failure to post anything of a truly serious nature has not merely been the result of busyness. Rather, I simply haven't had the slightest clue where to begin. The last month or so have been extremely difficult for me emotionally and spiritually; its been one of those times when my faith is greatly tested and I find myself battling darkness everywhere I turn. I found myself wondering like Job's friends what I had done wrong to find myself in such a pit. But I never found the answer. I still don't know. Perhaps, as our pastor pointed out on Sunday, my heart has been hard and closed to the work the Lord wants to undertake in me. I do have a stubborn streak when it comes to change! Whatever the cause -- only the Lord knows -- I am only now finding a path out of this particular valley. But enough about me....

I mentioned in a prior post how we were feeling like we needed to look a little further into some sort of intervention with our son. We ended up biting the bullet monetarily, so to speak, and purchasing a DVD series regarding RDI. Many months ago we attempted to look into RDI, as we felt it might be a good fit for what we saw in our son, but sort of reached a dead-end when things didn't go well with the only certified consultant in our area. This was where I just needed to swallow my pride -- and my hurt-mommy feelings -- and take another look at the program. The program itself is ridiculously expensive, but right now we are just taking a second look at it.

I cannot believe its been exactly a year since his diagnosis. In so many ways he has come so far. One of these areas is his gross motor and many fine motor skills. He has met and surpassed his goals in occupational therapy, so we are going to put that on hold for the time being and focus on his social skills. He has been attending a social skills group, which he has greatly enjoyed, and may continue to do so this Fall. Social skills, relationships, and self-regulation continue to be big problems for him.

Speaking of the Fall, in three weeks he begins Kindergarten. We had hoped that the school would have been in contact with us by now regarding his IEP, but haven't heard anything. With the offices being closed, there hasn't been anyone to contact. (I am going to try Special Services at the district to see if they know what's going on.) I'm sure this will be ironed out, but we would sure like to know what we're getting ourselves into ahead of time. While I am hopeful about Kindergarten being a success for him, I remain cautious. As I promised my mother-in-law, at the first sign that he is being labeled a behavior problem, he's outta there. (Okay, so maybe not that fast, but like I said, I remain cautious!) In any case, I think we will all be glad for the Fall and the consistency that it brings to our schedule.

I have been encouraged to have intersected lives with a few folks lately who have children with ASD -- thank you, Lord! It is a lonely road that is only understood by those who have walked it. One particular family we met at the homeschool convention where my husband spoke...and, wow! we had an instant connection. They were so open and gave us their address so we could keep in touch. What meant the most was how the mom reached out to me without trying to soothe away my concerns. She spoke openly of her own struggles and acknowledged the difficulty of the journey. She didn't try to convince me to try one thing or another, but just promised to be a listening ear if I needed one. What a special gift from the Lord.

Our free time this summer has mostly been spent as a family, trying to take advantage of all that God has created that speaks to our family. It is amazing to reflect on all the things that do help our son that are so simple and that God has designed each member of our family with the desire to seek out. We all love the outdoors, the beach, the woods, the lake. These are the things through which the Lord has spoken to us and helped us survive this summer, together with a whole lot of prayer and meditation on His Word. The next year is going to be very full -- a new school, the writing of another book by my husband, bringing home our daughter! -- but He's been faithful through one year since the diagnosis and we know that He will be faithful to carry us through the next.

** Yes, that's another Boy in the Surf photo. What can I say? The kid loves water! Never mind the fact that it was 62 degrees and drizzling that day, he was in paradise.