This!

This is at the end of the day dance party on Harrison's first day of his new school. I'm thinking we made the right decision. Yes?

I love that my child was able to be in public school for 2 1/2 years of pre-K, 2 years of K, and Grades 1, 2, and 3. He loved it, and he shined. He learned to bask in the light of being the center of attention and being surrounded by friends who fought to be his partner, push his chair, read to him, and play with him, and that has made my heart expand beyond belief. He worked so hard for his therapists and teachers, especially the ones who fussed over him, and he would not have lasted in a public school anywhere near as long as he did without his angel of an aid, Ms. Sally.

But, of course, a typical, albeit inclusive, program was not going to meet his needs forever. And so, to begin his 4th grade year, Harrison transitioned to an out of district collaborative program. This is something I put off for years. He is so social! He loves his friends! He is such a huge part of our community and everyone knows him, I don't want people to forget about him when they stop seeing him every day in school. And then, his seizures relaxed- CBD oil is the best thing ever discovered!- and his wakefulness and alertness increased, and his potential became even more apparent. It was clear that he would be much better served by a program full of children like him, surrounded by teachers and therapists and nurses and aids and other students who were fluent in the language of Augmentative and Alternative Communication asha.org  Harrison has lots of devices for this, including his iPad and some buttons and switches to make choices, play games, and help him to communicate. Our goal is to become fluent in AAC as a family, so that we can not only communicate with each other, but help our friends to be included in the conversations.

So the first several days of school have been great! Harrison is excited, happy, and working hard like he always does. Thank you tec-coop.org, although we sure do miss our Ms. Sally!