So I just Keep on Truckin'

I had Nathaniel's end of the year IEP meeting today. Good points:

1. In Math he is above average, except for word problems. Math is concrete so he understands it very well.

2. His verbal comprehension level is 4th grade.

3. He has improved greatly in OT with his fine motor skill.

Things that we continue to work on:

1. He is reading and comprehending what he reads on a 1.3 grade level, he should be near 3.0. He almost always drops the second sound in a word and since he spends so much time trying to read he forgets what he has read. (I get so confused on this and how to help him because this is a very strong point for me and always has been.)

2. In OT he has some deficiancies in his visual perception and visual memory. This is causing him to not remember directions or to not understand them the way they are written. He sees things differently and understands them differently. He is an auditory learner. So they will be reading directions outloud to him more often to help him understand. I will be taking him to be tested for dyslexia which I think is a big possibilty for him after seeing the results today. He has been on Special Ed. for almost a year now so results are much more concrete.

3. Nathaniel cannot handle change well, I knew this. I always have. I believe this stems back to his mother leaving him and the way his life was as a young baby and toddler. We always have to give him a 5minute warning before changing actitivties at home, they will be starting to do this at school too. Hopefully this will help him ease into changes better.

I was assured that he would have a good teacher next year. Nathaniel is already dreading 3rd grade. See this is where he 'I don't like change' thing comes in. He has told me several times in the car that he doesn't want to go to 3rd grade, but then last year at this time he didn't want to go to 2nd grade.

The principal told me that most parents just throw their hands up in the air when their kids are like Nathaniel and require this much work. She said that I don't though, she has never met a parent like me who doesn't have to help a child but does. I choose to be his mom and help him, she said 'he's not even yours and you are so dedicated'. She's right, I am. Nathaniel is my world, I would do anything for him and basically have. I will never quite working for him and with him. My only hope is that if something ever happens to me that someone lets him know how much Becky did for him. How much I love him and how much I want him to succeed. I don't want a medal at all, I am just doing my job, being a mom. But sometimes to hear those words 'you are a great mom' really feels good.

So for now, we'll just keep on truckin'. We'll get there, it just takes us a little longer but I won't give up on him.

"Rivers know this, there is no hurry. We shall get there someday."-Winnie the Pooh

These are some websites I found which describe his visual challenges, the second one has great games to help strengthen his visual skills.

http://familyfun.go.com/parenting/learn/assess/feature/dony18learningdisabled/dony18learningdisabled3.html

http://www.eyecanlearn.com/index.htm#Form%20Constancy