Sometimes It Goes Your Way

Yesterday I had the big meeting with C's school about obtaining services after all his testing. They diagnosed him with a visual integration disability. It is fancy shmancy talk for he can't write what he can see. This is why the poor child is still reading at a DRA score of 3. The disability makes it difficult for him to blend sounds. He can depict a word, but cannot put all the sounds back together again. The solution is Occupational Therapy, and tactile aid during math and reading. His IEP will be in place in the next 30 days and we will see exactly what ration of aid he will receive.

C did well on the testing for the most part, his lowest score was the 5th percentile for writing ability, but the part that makes you scratch your head: He tested completely with in normal range overall because he was off the charts in articulation, comprehension, categorizing, and vocabulary (like 4th and 5th grade level). It was nice to hear that our suspicions were correct. I kept saying in the school meetings that C is really smart at certain things but just cannot get the information from his brain to the paper, and sure enough that is exactly the issue. I feel slightly vindicated. I also feel relieved that they suggested he stay back in the 1st grade. I think getting to repeat the first grade with help and focused extra help would be such a gift to give him.

However we still have 11 weeks of school left, so we cannot give up trying. Even if we can only get him to write his sevens in the correct directions, then we've made some improvements. Plus we don't know if he'd flourish really fast with help, so there is always a chance he'd move forward. But we aren't going to stress over it. Everything went well at the school, I felt that each person I met with only had C's best interest at heart - there was not a moment when I thought that they were looking out for a budget, or securing their testing scores. They were totally there for C.