First week of School!

We had a great first week of school! Caleb is back into the swing of things. He quite amazed his teachers at how much he'd grown intellectually over the summer. He even began some more general ed. by wanting to take part in the Spanish Class and of course gym (which Daddy is now his teacher for). As for the school fight, it truly has helped to know my rights! They can NOT change his IEP or any type of schooling plan if I don't agree. I have made my presence known this whole week; popping in at different times to make sure he has his normal teacher and is in his normal classroom (the resource--special ed--room). I just want to encourage all who read this to google the special ed. laws in your state. Go over them with a fine tooth comb :) Here in Michigan, the schools CANNOT deny services due to funding, nor can they change a child's individualized education plan without the parent's okay. Basically, they can do nothing without the parent's consent. If they try to, contact the state, an advocate, and the schoolboard. Your child has the right to a free and appropriate education (FERPA) in the school district you live in. For my son, since he is doing so well right where he's at, his least restrictive environment (LRE) is the resource room at the general ed. school. They cannot even begin to say it should be the autism classroom all of the time. Best wishes to a happy, fun school year!

Back to School! Hooray!

School has started again! Caleb is doing dual enrollment between an autistic classroom (for 3-5th grades; but he's in 2nd grade) and then aspecial ed. classroom at our local school. He's doing 3 days in the autism class, and 2 days here in special ed. The hope is that he will develop more "ready to learn" behaviors, and also that our local school will be able to work one-on-one with autism experts to best be able to meet Caleb's needs in later years. They were VERY clueless last year. Anyhow, the first day went well! I'm excited to see what each day brings.

We've managed to tame Caleb's moods again (for about the last month or so). It seems that a natural yeast fighter, as well as an enzyme twice a day, and a multivit/min are doing the trick. So glad his mood is improved for the start of school! That way all can get to know him and like him before mood issues arise. He seems to be VERY ready for the challenge of school again, and looks forward each morning to going. I hope this continues. Keep praying! God has been so good thus far!

**the picture is of him getting off his bus the first day**

Summertime..when the living is easy?

Not a lot new and exciting. Summer's winding down, and we're beginning to think about school. Caleb's summer school went very well at his new autism classroom. He'll be doing 3 days in this class and 2 days at our local school. The goal is that this asd teacher will help guide our school district on how to plan for him, as well as handle any behavior. The asd classroom is about an hour away (a 2 hour bus ride), otherwise we'd just do that every day. I love what I've seen so far though! He comes home saying, "If you get angry...take a time out." I smile when I hear that :) So many times I've said the same thing, but it takes a teacher to get it to stick! We also have adopted the asd teacher's tactic of taking his hat (which he MUST wear at all times...a bit of an ocd/sensory thing) when he screams. He avoids screaming now, so we won't take his hat. Now, why didn't I think of that before?! Anyhow...still sometimes a bit of a rollercoaster ride this autism, but we're getting somewhere.

Hope all are having a fun summer! Oh...the pic is of Caleb catching a fish. Afterwards, he got bored and just kept casting his line into the weeds and trees :) But...he caught his first fish!