Appointments

Yesterday, Becky and I met with the staff at the Frisco Early Childhood School to review the activities and evaluation for Titus. When Titus turns 3, he is eligible to be evaluated and attend the Early Childhood School. Titus has been receiving therapy through Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) services for the last couple of years, and this is now the next step.

Our emotions are all over the place on sending Titus to school. The thought of sending our medically-fragile, tender child to school for 3 hours a day is overwhelming. The thought of not having in him the house being cared for by us in the mornings is unthinkable. The thought that we can put him on the bus to go to school puts me in tears.

But, the thought of him being in a learning environment with one-on-one instruction for 3 hours is wonderful. Meeting his teacher and seeing how she handled him with tender loving care touched my heart. Seeing the classroom and all the fun toys provides me with a sense of knowing he will have fun while learning.

But he's just my little boy - he's just turning 3 years old. And none of my boys have ever ridden a bus to school (of course, we can take him and pick him up - and it's just a few miles from the house).

Our intake meeting yesterday was long. Becky was prepared for her questions and what to ask for. But basically, the first 45 days of school, Titus will evaluated. After the evaluation, they will develop and Individaul Education Plan (IEP) for him with the goals for his school year. We (parents and teachers/therapists) all have to agree on the plan, goals, and objectives for the IEP. But yesterday's meeting was to agree on the plan during the evaluation period. And since Titus will be in school, his at home therapy through ECI will stop - so therefore we wanted to make sure he would still be receiving the same services at school during that time.

We did develop a plan and agreed to Titus going to school 3 days a week instead of 5. Which will also keep him attending his private therapy on Tuesday and Thursday. And we did agree that we will take him to school at the begining.  There is some paperwork to get through, but November 15 is just a few weeks away.

Titus also had a recent visit with his ENT to review that status on his cochlear implant. The audiologist is pleased at how Titus responds when his cochlear is on (and we are too).

Titus also had his annual visit with the cranofacial surgeon. The good news is that his jaw is stable. But it appears that Titus skull is not growing. The skull grows as the brain grows. Without any other testing but measuring his head, it "appears" that his brain is not growing since his skull is not growing. But when Becky asked what that meant, the answer came back "I'm not sure". Again, it's another area that we could really worrry about, but then we also look at how much Titus is learning, how cognizant he is, and we have again have to trust that all of this is part of God's plan for Titus' life.

Titus has been growing though - in fact, he's pretty much outgrown the Bugaboo stroller that we have used for the last 3 years. We never dreamed when we bought that stroller for Tucker 6 years ago that is would have been a perfect tool for Titus these last 3 years. The next logical step is to find a transitional stroller/wheelchair. Tomorrow we have an appointment with a sales rep in Dallas to look at several different ones. Again, this is another leap of faith and learning since we know very little about wheelchairs. Beck has developed a list of items we would like to have on it - but one of the key items is that it's easy to transport and fold down. And, once we decide, it could take up to a year before insurance approves it (or insurance denies it and Medicaid pays for it). Your prayers in that area would be appreciated.

We do have a fun week planned ahead - Cade turns 6 on Wednesday (he can hardly contain himself), Noah has a football playoff game, Tucker has baseball, and we are attending the Korean Festival on Saturday. And then Sunday evening we will be busy collecting food for Scare Away Hunger (and I"m sure the kids may get some candy along the way).