Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Sam's IEP meeting. The sitter is booked, the husband is off, and we are ready.

We don't have an adversarial relationship with our team here. In fact our team is beyond incredible. They have worked with Sam and our family to get the best results possible. Sam has flourished and blossomed at the neighborhood school.

They have put him into the right groups, they understand him, and they support and love him. I know not everyone can say that about their team, but I am blessed with the ability to say that about ours.

I am proud to be a member of our school family.

The Land of Stupid

I took the three littlest to the playground today. We packed sandwiches, fruit, and juice. We remembered hats and sunblock. The boys were so excited! 

I discovered how very independent Miss Grace is. She wandered off without even a furtive glance in my general direction.

I discovered how NOT independent Sammy is at the playground. He kept an almost constant eye on me and if I moved out of his line of sight he came running for me. It's a big change from where he was even a year ago. He use to bolt from places like that every time we went out. It was terrible. This was a little nicer.
He found a spinning toy and spent the rest of the time there spinning on it. 

Nate played and made a few friends and enjoyed himself as well.

I ran into someone and we started talking. When people find out how many kids I have they always tell me how crazy I am and blahblahblah...nothing I haven't heard before. She asked if I was thrilled to have them all going back, because you know having so many I must be miserable... I explained I homeschool Nate but Sam is in a special needs program that provides better things than I can give him. Her first response "Oh but he looks so normal" I responded as I always do "Well, autism doesn't exactly have a look" Her next volley FLOORED me! It took me a second to recover and respond. "Oh autism (in this drippy stupid knowing voice)  Its so common now it's hardly a special needs thing anymore"  I should have walked away. I should have stopped talking to her right there.I could only respond with " That is only because you don't live with it" I didn't walk away, so anything this poor woman said after that is my own fault for giving her an audience to her ignorance. I am sure she had no idea how ridiculous she sounded. I changed the subject. She asked if I ever got stressed out with all the kids.  I was honest, yes of course I do. Some days my feet hit the floor and I feel like I'm putting tuxedos on jelly fish all day. Some days it sucks! Regardless, I feel like this is what I am here for. 

So she says

" I don't think I could have that many, what if something went wrong?" 

I smiled and said "Well, you handle it, it's life. We aren't ever guaranteed perfection. I have two spectrum kids, it becomes your normal." 

Then she said it...
"No, I mean like a real problem. Something like Down Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy"

Wow. just wow. At that point I walked away. No words just...away. Ignorance scares me