Schools

Not Emi- Charlie. I've been visiting schools for Charlie for the fall. He's aging out of Early Intervention in August. His services get handed over to the Board of Education- but not before another round of evaluations and meetings. And then there's the school visits, open houses, school-specific observations of Charlie, applications, etc. These schools, which serve kids on the spectrum and with PDD-NOS (that's Charlie), are paid for by the Department of Education. If we went private, the tuition would be about $45k.

We're halfway through the evaluations. He charmed the pants off of the evaluators last week. His sense of humor is amazing. He communicates so much with his eyebrows! His attention span is impressive. He also showed them that while it appears that he can't stop moving around, he can also sit down with you for an extended period of time and do whatever you throw at him. The shapes puzzle? Not a problem. Want me to scribble? Give me that pen! Read a book with you? OK- but read quickly 'cuz I'm a fast page flipper! Stack blocks? How many you got?

I was reading over his September IFSP reports (progress notes from his last EI meeting with the city people) and his progress since then has been amazing. He couldn't stand up or sit down without assistance back then. I can hardly remember that. He also couldn't stack blocks very well. Or say the words he does now spontaneously. Back then, it was only "banana" and "bath". Now he says "More!" and "Again!"

By the way- Matt got Charlie to start saying "please" this weekend. I've been trying for months. Now Charlie says it whenever he's prompted by anyone. THANK YOU MATT!

By May 1st, we should know where both kids are heading to school in the fall. SHOULD. Might not. Keep your fingers crossed...