At about 4 1/2 yrs old, Joey had progressed to using 5-6 word sentences. Although he still referred to himself in the third person, it was great to hear him speaking after years of shrieking. His vocabulary bank was quite large, but using those words to create meaningful, conversational exchanges was just not happening. He was still receiving speech therapy through the school, and because of this, he was eligible for the school's 4K program.
Before Joey started 4K though, he was evaluated and observed by both the district psychologist and autism specialist. They agreed that he had some autistic traits, and so he was labeled autistic for educational purposes. This would allow him to receive a broader range of services. He scored quite low in all social/emotional areas, as well as auditory/verbal. But in the visual/spatial cluster he scored in the 97th percentile, meaning that out of 100 children his age, he ranked #3 for his visual abilities. If not for his language delay, he wouldn't have been accepted into the 4K program because his cognitive skills were remarkable.
And so began the IEP (Individualized Education Program) way of school life. His initial IEP included goals for pretty much every area, but there was an emphasis on social/emotional and language goals.
When Joey began school in the fall, everything was going great, and he was thriving. He loved school and riding on the bus. His academics continued to progress normally, but he still had issues with other children entering his personal space and transitioning from one activity to another. He was in an Inclusion classroom, which means that all the children had IEP's, but were receiving a regular education. They were also receiving extra support in the form of speech therapy, behavior therapy, occupational therapy, etc...First semester went great, even though he had the occasional tantrum, and he was beginning to exhibit OCD tendencies. (i.e. He wouldn't touch the playground equipment at school because it might have germs) This was also around the time he started with imaginative play, which is an autistic trait....I'm not sure I understand how having a creative mind is a symptom of autism, but there you have it.
But by the second semester of school, Joey's tantrums had increased tremendously, and he had become very disruptive in class. His language skills were still growing bit by bit, but he often had meltdowns, both at home and school. School behavior didn't seem to be getting any better, and I really wasn't sure what to do at that point.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The highlights of that 4th year weren't innumerable, but they were milestones nonetheless. Just before he turned 4, Joey joined a special needs baseball team. The first game, he was forced to hit and run the bases, kicking, screaming, and crying the entire time. By the second game, he was happy to play! He was hitting off the pitcher (usually on the first pitch), and had no need for a tee.
Joey's biggest interest that year was Thomas the Train. He drew Thomas and his friends repeatedly, sometimes staying focused on his drawings for hours at a time. He also had a Thomas track set that he would engineer into various patterns, utilizing wooden blocks and anything else his creative mind could put to use.
I think his biggest accomplishment that year was that he was learning to read...a goal I felt he might never reach. But he did it, and by the end of the school year, he was on level with other typical 4-5 yr olds entering Kindergarten.
It was also at 4 yrs old that Joey had Grandma, my mom, enter his life full time. My parents lived 750 miles away, and we rarely saw them for both financial and medical reasons. In 2008, when my dad passed away, my mom came to live with us. It was an adjustment, but Joey had someone much like himself now to play, color, and draw with. With the exception of high IQ scores, my mom was also a socially awkward, anxious, and energetic person just like Joey. She was also kind, generous, and very humble, just like Joey. My mom was an artistic savant, able to play piano by ear in her youth, and she fancied drawing and painting.
When Joey started 4K, Mom got him ready for school in the mornings, and put him on the school bus. I was usually home from work just before the bus dropped him off in the afternoons. Everything seemed to be going great, and Joey and his grandma were enjoying being in each others' lives. But as life sometimes does, we were thrown a curve ball AND had a monkey wrench thrown into what seemed like a progressive track...
No comments:
Post a Comment