School Placement for Roxie

About 4 weeks ago we began discussing the possibility that Roxie may do better or just as well outside of her current school, Metro, which is a separate public school for children with severe special needs. Next week we are meeting with representatives from the EC office at CMS to find out if they agree that Roxie has progressed enough to go to a typical elementary school in the fall. She would be in a separate SAC room with only children with special needs and she would still receive services for PT, OT, and speech. But she would spend some amount of time every day among typically developing kids (during lunch, music, art, PE, recess, etc.). And she would relish that time! Roxie loves spending time with other kids, especially ones that can interact with her. Currently only one of the children in her class at Metro is able to interact playfully with Roxie. But we know from watching her at home that when her siblings or her cousins play with her she lights up. Unfortunately Roxie could not go to school with her sister, as there are no SAC rooms at this school. Not only that, but there are only a handful of schools with these SAC rooms for special needs kids and because of all the budget upheaval at CMS I am not even sure where these rooms will be located in the fall. We hope to hear in the next few weeks from CMS regarding their decision.

When I think of moving Roxie to another school I feel some excitement, but I also have many reservations.

Will there be enough staff in the SAC classroom (currently she is in a room with 5 kids and 3 teacher)?

Will the sensory issues she has experienced this year at school be any better at another school? (Currently some of the non-verbal kids in her class make noises throughout the day that make Roxie extremely upset. She often has to leave the room in tears. She experiences anxiety about going to school everyday because of this.)

Will the school be 30 minutes away and begin at 7:30? (Roxie sometimes isn't away until 7:00 because of sleep issues and she still requires total care in the morning to get ready for school. We make her breakfast, feed her, give her medicine, put her on the potty, dress her, and pack her lunch and back pack. So how can we get her out the door by 7 ?)

Will Roxie be successful in another school? (She is a tough nut to crack and requires dedicated and creative teachers and therapists to understand how she learns and is motivated.)

If a typical school doesn't work out for Roxie will she be able to get back into Metro? (I know that it is jam packed at the moment and CMS will quickly fill her spot if she leaves.)

If CMS does insist that Roxie remain at Metro we are going to do our best to request that she is moved into an Autistic class and hope that she will have an easier time with her sensory challenges in this setting.

As I talk with parents about moving Roxie or leaving her at Metro some are pro-integration and say that moving her to a typical school is definitely the best answer and other say that Roxie will never have her needs met outside of Metro. And some parents, like myself, are thankful that we do have options for these special kids. I just hope we make the right choice for our sweet Roxie as she moves to 3rd grade.

Walk With Me: StRoll in the Park news coverage!!!

David Perlmutt with the Charlotte Observer interviewed me earlier this week for his blog, The Cliff. The blog was created to highlight the crisis facing Mecklenburg's nonprofit community and to raise awareness for the many great organizations, like Easter Seals UCP, that are part of it. Here's a nice piece he wrote about Roxie and the Walk to help promote Saturday's event.

Cruising In Kindergarten!

Roxie will finish her 3rd week at Metro School this Friday.  Her transition to Kindergarten has gone better than expected and she seems to enjoy her time at school (for the most part). She is in a classroom with 6 children and 3 teachers.  They have all kinds of adaptive resources (Roxie had a special chair for circle time, a special chair for the cafeteria, a stander, a walker, and loads of special adaptive leaning toys and equipment).  They have music, art, trips to the media center, play outside on the adapted play equipment, swim nearly every week, and more. I couldn't be more pleased.  And to boot everyone in the school that I've met seems dedicated and excited about what they do.  It is an impressive place where I feel comfortable leaving Roxie, even on day one.

After waking the kids by 6:50am and speeding through breakfast and getting ready to go, McRae and I get to school with Roxie at 7:55.  We sit with her in her classroom until 8:30 so she can do her therapeutic listening.  This is a program which involves listening to modified music for 30 minutes twice a day using special headphones with the hope of improving Roxie's sensory challenges.  She usually enjoys listening for a few minutes and then throws the head phones off. An adult has to sit with her for the 30 minutes to encourage/gently force her to leave on the headphones. Phelps and I are hopeful that this program will have some benefit for Roxie over the next few months, but it is a challenge to find the time and remember to do this twice a day. And sitting still for an hour total each day is an exercise in patience in a Buddhist sort of way. It is hard not to want to get up and start laundry, check email, or answer the phone. But now that I do the morning listening session at school there are not many distractions that require my attention and I can be on her like white on rice making sure the headphones stay on.  McRae enjoys looking around the classroom while I sit with Roxie.  She loves Metro, too and has taken a keen interest in the media center.  So much so that after our 5th trip there the media specialist created an account for her to check out books.  This is very exciting for a 3 year old!  She is especially impressed by their expansive collection of Berenstain Bears books. 

I think one of the biggest challenges for Roxie as she began Metro was getting used to spending so much time sitting up. At home and at ES UCP she spent lots of time on the floor (on her back), which is her favorite place and requires little effort on her part.  But I think she's already adjusting to these new demands, although she did bite her Miss Becky one day as she attempted to put Roxie back in her wheel chair (apparently she's had enough sitting that day).  All this hard work at school does make her tired and when I pick her up at 2:45 she's usually ready for some down time (out of her chair) and wants her shoes and braces off.  And in the evening now she's now asleep within 5 minutes of being put to bed around 7:45, so no more banging on her blinds for 30 minutes like she would do all summer long when we put her to bed.  We hope for continued success at Metro and for soon seeing the outcomes of all the work Roxie does there.