After years of "keeping him away" from germs, we're sending him off to a school full of little kids! Cohen turned three at the beginning of march so it marks the transition from Babynet( early intervention) services to school district provided services. A few months back we went in for his school district evaluation and IEP meeting. Now I've set through countless numbers of these in years past but I have to say it was very weird being on the other side of the table. Overall, we were extremely pleased with their evaluation and recommendations for Cohen. He qualified for preschool special education services due to his orthapedic impairment, related service needs( therapies), and his pretty severe speech delay/disorder. They recommended 5 days of 1/2 preschool in a classroom at a child development center and one each of the therapies( OT, PT, Speech).
We agreed to 3 days of 3 hours of school and each therapy. I would have even liked just 2 days but with the need for the therapies 3 days is really necessary and provides more consistency. I can't tell you how many times I said or thought..."I know as a teacher I would want him to do this, but as his mom I want that"....so weird to know and understand both sides. Hopefully everyone felt that our agreement worked best for all.
I visited the classroom before signing the IEP( which I highly recommend to anyone going through this). And We took cohen for about 30 minutes one day to ease him into it. After seeing the class, we had some concerns about his safety as he was really the only child with an orthopedic impairment. Apparently, so did they, because they provided another aide that was basically Cohen's one on one aid for safety. I can't tell you how much that meant to us. And how much we absolutely adored her!!
So, we took the plunge and here he was on his first day!!!! I didn't get any pictures in the classroom, just ones before we left the house( rushed because we were of course running late!!)
Checking out his bag he had to use that is bigger than him!!
3 comments:
Hi, I'm a lurker of your blog and I've never commented. I have been reading about sweet Cohen since the beginning. I just wanted to tell you that my niece went to the Dunbar center for several years and she LOVED it! I hope it goes well for Cohen!
I've got all my fingers crossed that Cohen loves his new school!! So glad that they were willing to work with you to make sure he was comfortable and safe.
And I adored my buddy just as much! I miss him so much!!!! Having Cohen's bright blue eyes look up to me as his protector, teacher, helper and friend makes my heart melt. Now, if I can just get him to come to Sara Collins in a few years, we will be set. I hope he is enjoying preschool and that they are loving him to death!!!
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