Sophie’s lawyer asked me to write down some concerns in anticipation of her annual IEP meeting next week. (IEP stands for Individualized Education Plan — the living legal document that guides/dictates the educational life of a kid with a disability.) I smirked. Perfect timing for an airing of grievances. I started this blog to catalog […]
Sometimes you’re moving along through life, feeling like you have certain things down, know others to be true, and something happens that just completely rocks your world and makes you question everything you’ve done as a parent. Or something like that. A few days ago, a Facebook friend and fellow parent of a kid with Down syndrome […]
Saturday was the state Special Olympics cheerleading competition. Sophie’s team bombed. They finished third out of three, winning bronze medals. I found Sophie’s crumbled on the not very clean porch windowsill the next day. No one had even bothered to bring it into the house. A rather sad end to the season, in contrast with last […]
Sophie’s IEP meeting was last week, and we’re still in the throes of finalizing/reviewing/sign-seal-and-delivering, but things seem to be falling into place. It’s such a detailed process, designed to address every possible angle of your kid and her needs, but really what I find is that it lulls you (or me, anyway) into a false […]
It rained yesterday. That’s headline news in these parts. We’re always unprepared. Several of the caramel-dipped, chocolate covered pretzels I’d brought to school as holiday gifts fell in a puddle (don’t worry, they were wrapped, you can get them that way — warning, product shot! — at Granny’s Chocolates in Gilbert; the casualty was the cute labels I’d ordered […]
When I pulled up in front of the school yesterday morning, I noticed the “word of the week,” posted on the school sign, is INITIATIVE. I had no clue how to apply that. And by the end of the meeting with the principal, my cluelessness was evident. Also my bitchiness. “Were you raised in New […]
Late last night, I met a friend to see the movie “Man On Wire”, about a French guy who walked a tight rope between the Twin Towers, shortly after they were built in the 1970s. It was an odd way to honor 9/11, maybe, but somehow fitting — and I was glad for the break from […]
Tomorrow’s a big day. Or not. Sophie’s IEP team is meeting, to review her first month of kindergarten. When we were putting the finishing touches on Sophie’s IEP (Individualized Education Program, the document that prescribes her school situation, from what therapies she gets to where she pees) I insisted we reassemble the team (everyone from principal […]
