I was a nervous wreck when E.B. started preschool this year. He was newly diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder and I feared his teacher wouldn’t understand, the school might not understand, and that I’d probably be receiving phone calls on a daily basis saying, “Please come get your child because he is out of control, m’kay? Thxbye!” I remember placing a note to his teacher in his backpack that very first day apologizing for the “we aren’t fully potty trained yet” thing and also including with that note some information sheets on SPD just to give her a head’s up.
As it turns out, I had nothing to fear. That very same note came back to me the next day with a sweet reply from his teacher saying that she knew E.B. would master the potty on his own in due time and that he would be ok. She showed interest in his diagnosis and asked questions. She never made me feel like his quirks and behavior were unwelcome or disruptive in the classroom.
E.B. has had an amazing year in 3 year old kindergarten. So much so that we are doing 3 year old kindergarten all over again next year. And we couldn’t be more pleased.
A couple of weeks ago E.B.’s teacher said she’d like to talk to me about “options” for him next year. Being a former teacher myself, I knew what that meant. I knew she didn’t feel like he was ready to move on to 4K, and deep down if I had to be honest with myself, I knew he wasn’t ready, either. Although he is bright and intellectually functioning on an age appropriate level, his developmental skills are lacking. He is small for his age, still struggles with speech, and he’s just not ready to be pushed on any further at this point. Personally, I’m a little relieved. Much is expected of children much earlier these days and to send him on would not be in his best interest right now. But the option! IF E.B. seems to be all caught up by the end of next year, then he can move on to Kindergarten with his class, just as he would normally have done. It’s a nice option to have, but we’re not aiming solely for that. We want him to thrive where he fits in best.
Cracked Daddy and I talked it over and agreed this was the best choice and a week or so later I told E.B.’s teacher what we decided. She then took me aside and produced a stack of books. All of these books were on SPD. She offered me my choice of any of those books I wanted to borrow and told me that she wanted to understand SPD even better so she could be even more prepared next year to help our son. I know she spent well over $100 on these books and I’d almost stake my life on the fact that I am almost positive the school did not purhase these books for her. I thanked her and left confident that we had made the absolute right decision.
As I got to my car to leave the magnitude of what just happened hit me. HOW many teachers would go that much out of their way to accomodate a child with special needs in their classroom? And so much so that they would spend that much money reading up on something to help that child?
She is a Godsend and we are so very blessed.
Yesterday E.B. and I had to make a quick stop at the Dollar General store to buy some cat food. We stop in there at least once a week and E.B. almost always scores himself a little, inexpensive toy. It’s my little way of saying thank you to him for behaving long enough for me to grab what I need and get out as quickly as possible.
