Sometimes, you just have to post a llama.

Official hoops

We got the official letter from Edd today, the Director of Student Services. Ths is the letter that takes two pages to say "f&*# you." The OT is supposed to meet with my OT and I and "collaborate" on a sensory plan for Joey. Like my private OT works for free, or that we can come up with a single plan, and it is all done. And all of this is supposed to be a "good faith effort" on the part of the school. Like they 've all suddenly had a religious conversion and can now handle sensory issues like professionals. Oh, and I'm supposed to meet privately for "coffee" with the woman who thinks my child needs no summer service, has no coordination issues, and shouldn't have gum because it is "against school rules." Yes. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Oh, and it thanks us for being such wonderful advocates for our child. Right. If I'm such a wonderful advocate, why isn't Joey getting an appropriate education? Or rather, why is the free part of that education not appropriate? Because, quite frankly, I suck.

Hyacinths

Last fall, my mom bought me more bulbs than normal gardens ever plant. I love bulbs. You put them in the ground, toss some cow manure on them twice a year, and bingo! You have flowers. I don't plant many tulips, they wear out. But hyacinths and daffodils... gimme.

I got to pick the bulbs. We were in a local nursery center, and having a really bad month, and I handpicked each bulb, it was heaven. I managed to get them in teh ground, which is a miracle. And now I am SO glad I did. They are blooming today. It was a warm, sunny delight of a day, and my hyacinths came out, and coming in from class this evening, it just smelled SO wonderful. It makes being tired not so bad when the hyacinths are blooming. You can almost feel the perfume in the air, and when it is still like now, the weight of it hugs you. How can anyone be unhappy when hyacinths are blooming?

Having a misery day

I'm tired, I have a sniffle, and I'm feeling really miserable today. If life were left up to me, I'd meet the stupid school OT for coffee, slump in my chair the whole time, smile, and nod, and have this round be over. This woman is not suddenly going to understand sensory issues or deal with them appropraitely, but we have 12 more years stuck with this woman. There aren't any other choices, unless we move or sue. And Im paying too much money in therapies to afford to really sue. Unless I get a fifth job. I'm running out of hours in the day. Andy now needs 2 30-minute sessions of therapeutic listening (anyone else done that?), but that's not so bad, because I just picked times I was playing with him, anyway. Now he plays with headphones on. Only I can't cut any corners; I can't get a si of something to drink or check my email surreptiously, because he'll take the headphones off. WE actually went up a volume setting today, big big stuff apparently. He likes the songs. My garden needs a layer of spring mulch, which for us is a thick layer fo newspaper to keep the weeds down covered by a light, decorative sprinkling of hardwood shredded bark. BUt I never got to it last year. This year isn't looking good, either. I miss my garden. I'm just so tired.

What to do

So the director of Student Services had a meeting with the staff, and our IEP meeting, or whatever, and basically told the OT to get with our OT and us and "colloborate on a plan for Joey's sensory issue that we all feel comfortable with."

Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?

Except that the school OT doesn't do sensory stuff. The problem with teh plan we have right now is that leavin gher to implement it, when she is not skilled to do so, it ludicrous. How can I colloborate on a plan when the only problem with teh plan is qustionable personnel?

And sorry about the work we've already done. We're just screwed with that.

The only thing I can see to do is to move forward as we are... tracking down a lawyer and some educational specialists.