Cathching up again

Here I am again, incredibly behind in posting.  Sorry folks, bear with me, please.

When I last wrote, it was late fall and I was being held hostage by a homework meltdown.  Wish I could say that was the last of the year, but unfortunately things were only heating up at that time.


Regarding busing, I pressed the transport dept when the first snow flew about my request for a pick-up closer to our building, and was told any changes would have to wait til after winter break!  Meanwhile I saw several of the "short buses" picking kids up at almost every door of each of the bldgs in our complex (one right next to us!) and asked if she couldn't just ride that bus with that child.  Of course I was told no, those were only for Special Ed kids. 

At Kate’s next session I asked her therapist exactly what diagnosis she had in her system for Katie, thinking that if it was the only way to solve this transportation issue, maybe she could qualify for SpEd due to her diagnoses.  When I mentioned this to the therapist she encouraged me to request a full IEP evaluation for Kate so she could get help with some of the other things we’d been struggling with as well. 

Katie had been resistant to doing homework, often telling me she didn’t have any or forgetting to bring it home, so that it piled up and then felt too overwhelming to her to even start to tackle.  Homework that did get done wasn’t getting turned in. I’d find it a week later in a folder at the bottom of her bag.  She also wasn’t bringing home all the usual school notes that inevitably get sent home with students, but this being a new school, at first I just assumed they didn’t send much home since there was an online newsletter. Then suddenly she’d come home with 2+ months worth of parent letters, permission slips, and health notices.  So one thing her therapist told me I ought to be able to request was to have someone come meet Kate in the morning when she got to school and help see to it that homework got turned in to the right place and whatever else prepared for the day, and then also come to her before she left for the day to help her make sure she brought home all her homework and necessary materials.  She told me if Katie had an IEP or 504 plan there would be services available that weren’t otherwise.