It is amazing how energized I know feel now that Roger’s IEP is over. I still have to sign the IEP tomorrow at Loma Vista. Although I was hoping to get a referral for school OT, I do understand they need to see how he does in the school setting. Hopefully, he will already have his evaluation completed and be a participant in the Sensory Clinic at CSUC by the time he turns 3. Roger will continue to get 45 minutes of speech therapy per week through the school district and I may continue to pay for a second private session per week. Finally, his classroom was assigned. Roger will be in the inclusion classroom at Innovative. During our initial tour of Loma Vista, the school psychologist stated that it is very rare that they put a new preschooler in the inclusion program and restated that during the IEP. However, they think Roger is very intelligent with some very great cognitive skills for his age. The consensus was that his autism, while noticeable, should not hinder him in this setting. They are hoping that the quicker pace and being around typical children would aid him while being in a full special needs class may hinder him. They have not assigned his room at Innovative yet, but it typically has 16 typically functioning children with 6 special needs children from the Chico Unified School District. I feel very proud of Roger and excited for preschool! We had put Roger on the waiting list for Innovative prior to his autism diagnosis.
In addition to being post-IEP, we received news today that my father is cancer-free and his next appointment is scheduled in three months!
This week, I truly feel lucky!
Spinning Wheels 