special needs and school

Friday August 17, 2012

Next week is a big week. Taevon and Aaron start school. Taevon will be in Kindergarten and Aaron will be in Preschool.  I am nervous about the care they will receive while in school. I talked with Taevon's teacher and she wanted to know if he was coming to school with a nurse. Aaron's school nurse has yet to get in contact with me about Aaron's needs. I have Teavon's IEP next Tuesday so he will start school after we get his health plan written. I am still waiting for Aaron's school to update his health care plan.  Getting ready for the kids to go back to school is a lot of work. Nicholas just needs his Epi pen and he is all ready, but for the others there is a lot more needed. There are forms for the drs to fill out, extra meds for the schools, IEP meetings, care plans to be made/altered and nurses and teachers to meet with. My anxiety is high in anticipation of sending Taevon, Aaron and Keagan to school.

Taevon's special needs: Shaken baby syndrome, spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, scoliosis, epilepsy, G-tube, visually impaired, developmentally delayed, and nonverbal. He is unable to walk or crawl and has a wheelchair. He is fed every 3 hours and has numerous meds. We met this amazing little boy a few weeks after his 4th birthday and were finally able to bring him home 3 weeks ago (a few weeks after his 5th birthday) He has brought us so much joy! I can't wait to see what God has planned for this amazing little boy. We are patiently waiting to finalize his adoption.

He will receive PT, OT and speech from the school. Through Turnstone he will also receive PT, OT, Speech, and Water Therapy. He is going to start therapeutic horseback riding lessons and hopefully vision therapy.

Aaron's special needs: septo optic dysplasia (blind) diabetes insipidus (has to do with his sodium level), hypothyroidism, epilepsy, panhypopituitarism, congential adrenal insufficiency (cortisol insuffiency), trouble controlling his body temperature, hypoglycemia, missing the corpus pellucidum and has a very thin corpus callosum, developmentally delayed, sensory issues, and nonverbal. He is unable to walk and has a wheelchair. Besides needing to closely monitor his liquid intake to keep is maintain his sodium level we also need to keep an eye on any signs of an adrenal crisis. He also does not chew so he only eats soft foods and drinks pediasure to get enough calories. He has numerous meds and ER meds for an adrenal crisis. Aaron is such a special little boy. God has work3ed wonders in his short life. We met this little angel when he was 18 months old and were able to bring him home 2 weeks after his 2nd birthday. He has taught me so much and has come so far since he came home. We finalized his adoption almost 2 years ago.

Aaron receives PT, OT, Speech and Vision Therapy at school. He also receives PT, OT and Speech through Turnstone. He is also getting ready to start Therapeutic Horseback riding lessons.

Nicholas started school (first grade) this past Wednesday and we love his school nurse. He has a peanut/tree nut allergy and has a Epi pen. He did great last year in Kindergarten and we never had a problem. The nurse is very detailed and a note came home with his class about his allergy. We were lucky enough to bring this cutie home from the hospital and we finalized his adoption when he was 9 months old. God has amazing plans for Nicholas. He has such a strong faith and loves to pray out loud in Sunday School.

Keagan starts school (preschool) September 10. He is so excited. I am hoping he does well.

Keagan's special needs: has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Sensory Processing Disorder, and he suffered a stroke that caused a lot of frontal lobe damage. He is doing well with his speech but still struggles in a lot of different areas. We are trying a regular preschool to see if he is able to maintain, if not he will be enrolled in our areas special needs preschool. I think this is where he needs to be but the school system wants to try a regualr classroom setting first. We were told about this sweet little boy and we went to meet with his social workers, along with many other families. We were called the next day and told we were chosen as his forever family. We went and picked him up the very next day! We finalized his adoption a year and half ago. He is a ball of energy and has the cutest dimples. I feel so blessed to have this special little boy call me mommy.

Keagan received Speech and OT but met his goals early last year.

I am sad that the summer is over. I love spending time with all of my boys at home, but am excited to see what they will learn this year. I am looking forward to next summer. I know this year will go fast and I will be busy with the boys schools, therapy and dr appointtments (average 3-4 a week) and sports. It is crazy but I love it! I feel so lucky that God chose me as these amazing little boy's mommy!