Thursday, March 18, 2010

The ups and downs of being an LT parent

Sorry it has been SOOOOOOOO long since my last post.  Unfortunately my lovely son accidentally dropped my laptop and its is still stuck in computer purgatory as some unknown part is on backorder until ??????  My husband took pity on me and bought me a new laptop for my birthday.  When the old computer finally comes home it is going to Will.

So the ups and downs of being an LT parent.  If I had been available to blog three weeks ago it would have been a BIG up.  We had just gotten back from a trip to Nashville TN to see the first doctor to diagnose him with Mixed Expressive Receptive Language Disorder.  Will did amazing on the flights out and the layovers.  Again we got complements on how well and quiet he is!  (Usually an old couple - who knew?)  The doctors said Will was coming along nicely since they saw him a year ago.  We haven't gotten the final report, but we left feeling really good about Will's future.  

We had been home for two days and went to take Will to his Kindergarden interview at the local private school.  ( My husband is a graduate).  Will did WONDERFUL!  We had informed and given the teacher all of the doctors reports and were very forthcoming with his language disorder.  The testing portion of the interview was a breeze for Will and when we were done he even picked up his toys.  We left with the teacher saying she thought it would work out and being very positive on having Will in her classroom.  She only said she would have the speech path look over the reports we gave her and get back to us.  BIG up for this LT.

The next thing we know we are getting a call from the University Hospital that our wait on their list (over 7 months!) was over and we could bring Will in the next day for a follow up appointment.   Will again did soooooo well and the doctor was very happy with his progress.  We left that appointment with the doctor saying he was more convinced then ever that Will was NOT ASD (yeah!!!) and that his language disorder was what was holding him back socially.

So yeah we were on a bunch of UP UP UP on this journey until, da, da, dummmmm we got the dreaded call from the private school telling us they didn't want Will in there school.  Actually they said they couldn't provide the services for him, which is a load of crap since the public schools are required to provide services to ANY child in private school or home-schooled.  So they were really saying they just didn't want Will.  Needless to say I barely got off the phone before the tears started.  I can't tell you how hard it is to have your flesh and blood rejected.  I know its only freaking (yea I made the decision not to swear on the blog, but in "real" life I was talking like a sailor!) Kindergarden, but its soooo heartbreaking to have your son denied anything in life.

On top of all of this Will has now chosen to do his "weirdo kid" impression again.  His scripting has picked up and his behavior is definitely right of center.  It makes you second guess all the positive feedback we've gotten this month and I HATE that.  We go through this "spells" every few months and then come out the other end with more speech, but until the end is here is can be tough one the heart of this mom.

Soo here is to all the UPs we've had this month and a big fuck you (sorry I had to do it) to all the people who can't see the wonderful potential in our beautiful LT and gave us the DOWNs of the month.


1 comment:

Missy said...

Yup, here's a big FU to the private school. What a load of crap. I graduated from a private school and it wouldn't surprise me a bit if they rejected a child who was "different" because they were afraid of what it might do to their "image" or "test scores." Utter nonsense. Have you thought anymore about Montessori? I just say this because all 3 Montessori schools we visited have welcomed Ethan with open arms.

It goes the same with Ethan - his behavior and language and all sorts of stuff go completely out of whack for a few weeks and then BAM! a language burst (not always expressive - sometimes receptive).

This, too, shall pass. I promise. take it from the mommy of a slightly older LT. You will reach a point when the UP days greatly surpass the DOWN days.

xxbig hugsxx