One day to go...

The school meeting went well - Hannah's teacher (and the school principal) are absolutely fantastic - professional, dedicated, genuine - what more could we ask for? Hannah has exceeded their expectations in many ways. Her communication goals are the key area where further development and thinking is required - but (aside from her being sick with croup and ear infections - which dramatically affected her talking)she is using her words at school. Her writing skills are improving. Her ability to attend to tasks is also improving. As I have said many times - I am so impressed with the care and careful management of resources that they have managed. It is never easy and funding seems to continue moving backwards. As a teacher I know that this is a difficult balance to achieve.

Hannah has been working so hard. All the kindy's are tired - but she is exhausted. She loves going but it requires so much effort on her part - for pretty much the whole time she is there. Getting her working better in small groups is clearly the next overall goal as is increasing her intitiation of communication. Academic goals - she's slowly progressing - so more of the same althought he number goals have been a little reduced to focus on all aspects of 0-3. She can rote count but they are also considering writing and manipulatives.

I am keen to do a 'retrospective' "What I have learnt post" - amybe after I have my uni exam tomorrow. It is 'hanging over my head like a spider!' at the moment. Fancy having an assessment on the last day of term - it is too cruel for words - only in numeracy!

Fast and Furious

The term is drawing to a close - only 2 days to go. Tomorrow I will be meeting at the school to evaluate how things have gone and what 'challenges' lie ahead.

From our perspective - so much has been positive. Hannah's socialisaitona nd transition to kindy has been very successful. I thought her academic progress might be hindered while she struggled to cope with everthing else - well her writing is noticably improving (very slowly - she has gone from writing wonky capital H to a wonky H and a straggly a, sometimes an n that doesn't look like an o). Her counting is going ok as is number identification - although we are still playing around in the up to 10s area. Her story writing book is empty - but that is no surprise - her maths and patternmaking books are full of fantastic activities.

So I am hoping tomorrows meeting is mostly positive. Here is what i think will need to be discussed further:
social skills - peer reactions - how to facilitate more positive interactions - they have been fantastic in 'mothering' Hannah, she needs some help in how to engage in constructive play with them (I have been reading Amanda's blog for some ideas on that one!). I worry that she 'pushes' (gently but still) at kids who come up to cuddle her - because she doens't know a more effective way to 'play'.
Balance - how to get Hannah working effectively in small groups so that the school resources are not overly stretched with one on one that could be done in small groups.
How to maintain Hannah's motivation and attention. I worry that her 'cranky' voice is getting more of a work out - at home I have started sayoing that if she uses it she has to go to her room for a minute. At the same time I need her to know that it is ok to be angry - that she has that right really - but not to use her 'cranky' voice which is usually a loud gutteral'no!' and very annoying!!!
What to do about her tiredness - I think that as we end the term - we can see that she is starting to get tired - what will it be like next term which is 11 weeks?
Resources haven't really been going to specialist teachers (I don't think) - perhaps that may come up?

From our perspective - I would really just like some feedback from her teacher on exactly how she is going. The communication book is mostly positive but not very specific - so I want to know if Hannah has met the goals we set for her last year - and if new ones are required now (for some I think that is the case). I also want to review communication strategies - are they interested in more signing now? Are the visuals workoing - is there a better way to incorporate these in the classroom - to encourage Hannah to initiate communications.

I also want to give the school a BIG thank you - Hannah loves going to school. She likes being independent. She is widely known and accepted by the school community - which is nice when I have been reading comments in the media about how irresponsible it is of a parent to continue a pregnancy if they know beforehand the child they carry will have a disability (!!).

Frogs and Swordfish

If you go into the history of Shamptons you'll no doubt find some posts about Hannah and Kit's swimming lessons. When I was on maternity leave - I enrolled with Kit in a babyswim class - it was my way of making sure that i spent some time with him just for him (to balance all the theraoy time that Hannah was getting). My MIL did the same class - with hannah.
When I went back to work it had to stop until one afternoon 2 years ago for some reason I got it into my head that they just HAD to do swimming (maybe I'd seen some other child with DS benefit from it - maybe it was about the time that I realised PT for Hannah was pretty much over - and I needed to find alternative ways of helping her develop her physical tone) anyways I enrolled them - after a brief chat with the swim coordinator they were enrolled in the same 'mainstram' class - tadpoles. 2/3 terms later Kit became a Frog. Hannah stayed in tadpoles - she absolutely loved it - but her legs were often akimbo and her arms - she'd smile that big grin and cling to the the instructor's neck - not from fear but because she was having so much fun playing with them!! 2/3 terms later Kit became moved up another grade, Hannah was still in tadpoles.
In her time there she has had some great instructors but in the latter part she tended to think that she could just continue to 'play'. I decided once she started school this year that it was time for me to push for a more appropriate class for her. She would be getting plenty of socialisation at school and at Rainbow CLub (swimming classes for kids with disabbilities). She was there for exercise and her future health - she was there to LEARN!! I discussed her needs with the supervisor - who'd also been her teacher in the past - yes it was worth trying to get her into the 1-1 spec needs program. I spoke to the coord - nope - waiting lists for that are ginormous so our compromise was a capped class and a fantastic instructor. I was more than happy with that arrangement. Unfortunately she has missed a lot of this term due to illness (sigh!). Nevertheless she has been making progress.
In the summer holidays just before term began I was able to get her in for 3 days with the special needs teacher - in just those days she made so much progress - and she absolutely loved it!! The smile of pride on her face when she 'swam' 3-5 metres was glorious to see.
So here we are at the end of Term 1 and she still hasn't quite mastered some of the tadpole stuff although she can do heaps. The supervisor is in fact her very first teacher (who was great!). We discuss what to do with her - he is keen for her to go to go up a grade - he can see that she has progressed - he can also see that she is still doing the same sort of things that she bagan with 2 years ago God Bless Him! So there we have it - Hannah is going up a grade because the supervisor is perceptive enough to know this about her character - she LOVES a challenge. The class will be capped.
Kit is also doing very well. He really enjoys it too - I wouldn't know if he's doing really well or not necessarily - but he too has gone up a grade - he too will enjoy the 'challenge'.
Oh - and i have managed to get Hannah into the special needs holiday class again - she's going to LOVE that.

Lucky

Han and Kit attend after school care a couple of times a week - they love it. One of the workers there was chatting to me about Hannah a couple of weeks ago - at the end of our conversation she said "You are so lucky". She meant to have Hannah - I liked her perceptiveness because that is of course how I feel about both my chilldren - but it is the first time I can recall someone saying that to me about Hannah. It isn't that usual for someone to say it about having a child witha disability - where they are actually referring to the whole child (disability and all) as part of my good fortune. You know - it was strange but her words really made me smile - because I think she 'gets it' and that is great.

Over the weekend we encouraged Hannah to rest up for school and I desparately tried to catch up on schoolwork (our marking reporting regime is in full swing) and a little uni work too. I was just feeling that things were slowly coming back under control when Kit starts vomiting everywhere!! Poor Darling. He had a restless night and so we kept him home from school yesterday. DH stayed at home and I went to work. I took Hannah to school on the way. I was nervous about how she'd go. She had missed 4 days last week and was going without Kit - for the first time. In the past at her other care centres she would not have wanted to do that. I rang after school care to let them know she'd be there. I was worried she'd be quite tired by the time she got there and also that without Kit she may get confused and not go!

As I walked with her from the car to school it occurred to me that all my apprehension was bout how she would feel today. I had every confidence that the other kids would be happy to see her back (and they were) and that the teachers would take the very best care of her. It was such a good feeling. Later at work one of my students who has a sibling with DS gave an oral presentation about her class research project into the impact of DS on the family. One of her points was stressors on the parents and undder that she metntioned how parents are often reluctant or unable to trust anyone else to look after their child with DS. I smiled as I listened becasue I know that she is right - and I am so glad that that is not how I feel about Hannah's school, quite the opposite. I trust that they will take excellent care of my gorgeous girl.

Still as soon as my last class was done I raced over to get her. The after school workers were keen to tell me what a great day she'd had and how she was fine with them. that same worker who'd told me how lucky I was once again mentioned how great my kids were - she commented on how bright Kit was - and also said something like "and so is this little one...' nodding at Hannah. I couldn't agree more - she is bright and beautiful - on the inside (and outside) - intelligence like beauty is in the eye of the beholder and in the eyes of those who love us is the best sort. It is not a narrow box of IQ assessments for any child, their beauty and intelligence is innate - we just need to be open enough and have the opportunity to appreciate it.

Dance

We went to the school dance last week. It was very successful. the kids all enjoyed running around and playing with their friends in such an informal setting. The dance maestro was lots of fun too. I got to see the kids interact beautifully with Hannah and spoke with a number of teachers and other parents. It was a fun night.

Hannah's EI spec ed and our family 'coord' from our current support service visited the school and gave the kindy teacher lots of practical suggestions and activities to try for Hannah - to increase her motivation/concentrationa nd enhance her participation in groups. There was discussion about withdrawing ehr for some one on one but hte feeling from our support service is that it would be best to do so with a couple of her peers rather than one on one. I think that sounds ok as there are other kids there who would also benefit from some of the strategies that work for Hannah. Her kindy teacher as I have said before is fantastic and I know that she will do her best to implement the strategies discussed. Our family service coordinator also commented on how fantastically well Hannah had settled intot he school - how comfortable she is there and how lovely the other kids are towards her etc - things I knew but it is good ot have an objective observer make similar statements.
Hannah has been unwell - she had a febrile seizure yesterday and is still battling a nasty fever so she and I are home today - she is lying necxt to me but refusing to go to sleep the little bugger - she had a terrible night with fevers and phlegm...Kit is settling in too. I think he found it quite hard to be ina different class from Hannah especially as the rest of his 'reading group' are in her class as is a number of kids that he likes to play with. Poor darling is working hard at understanding what is going on. He got Star of the Week which he is proud of for 'always using nice/good words when talking about others' - now me - I know that hte star of the week can sometimes be used as a bit more of a motivator for a child that is struggling to do the right thing - I'll have to try and catch his kindy teacher to see how he is going I think. He and 2 others from his reading group will be reading a prayer of the faithful at the whole school mass soon - it makes me very proud of the little fellow - my baby has almost disappeared and in his place is this adorable young boy with barelya trace of babyhood in him... This morning as he went off to school by himself again he told me that he is a bit lonelly there without Hannah. Still he went - soemthing I know I'd have trouble getting her to do if their places were reversed.

Mid term update

I think it is time to start taking stock of how things are going - I have a meeting with the key parties at the school in a couple of weeks to consider how things are progressing for Hannah in kindy. My impression is that they are going great - it is very clear that we (meaning Hannah, her family and the teachers/staff at school) have been working diligently to make this experience successful - and it is. I guess we need to review some of the 'nuts and bolts' of classroom organisation and her behaviour and her academic progress. I learnt a long time ago tha there is a 'cost' to mainstreaming her - it is a reality that I think I can live with - her teachers are so hardworking - I think it is important for them to feel successful in their efforts - Hannah is making so much progress (more than I had initially hoped for or expected) but she is obviously different and the gap between herself and her peers is generally going to widen - we need to have things set up to cope with that.

I have volunteered in the classroom which I loved doing - those kindy kids are just delightful - there is such a range of stages in there - I don't know how the teachers do it year after year - but I can clearly see their competence and dedication in there. I got a chance to chat with Hannah's aids too which was nice - I don't like to approach them about it as I feel they have a lot of things to do and a number of kids they look out for - but both briefly chatted to me about how Han is going - and while she still requires coaxing and bribery to stay focussed and get some tasks done it is clear that these wonderfully patient women can see progress. They can see that her comprehension and potential are pretty good.

As the school prayer says - 'so many hearts make a school' and I see that every day - in the staff, the parents and the other children. There is still such a long way to go but we are now well underway and there are many tings that are working well - for that I am very releived and glad.

The members journal with the fantastic cover focuses on education - I have asked for an extra copy so that I can give it to the school for the staff to see and read.

Lovely things

Good things are continuing to happen for Hannah at school. She had to leave early on Fri as she has an ear infection and I had to take her to the drs for some antibiotics but she is coping very well. One night last week she was so tired when we got home that at one point I found her sitting on the floor in "Grandpa's room' staring vacantly at the bookshelves there. At least i know it wasn't another fit as she responded to me straight away and wasn't floppy or tired afterwards (well more than before anyways!!). It was the same day that her music teacher told me it was the first class where Hannah ahd stayed sitting with the rest of the class for the whole time - clearly she is taking in more of what is happening around her and so it is no wonder that she is stillg etting very tired. I gave her a nice warm bowl of soup for comfort but she still refused to go to sleep until 'normmal' bedtime - when she crashed.
Yesterday I went looking for her in the house and found ehr back in her grandfather's room (where I keep a lot of the educational games and activities we use) 'teaching' her doll Sally. She was testing her literacy skills - so cute. I printed off a copy to give to her teacher today - clearly she is inspiring Hannah.

Great - fears

Things are going so much better than they might have. I am more conscious - everyday - of the risk we took in enrolling the twins in a local, mainstream school. My hubbie refused to entertain the idea of homeschooling - and i knew in my heart it wasn't right for Kit - but for Hannah? Anyways - now I know that there is no way I could have given her what our local school has given her in the past 5 weeks. I'm not saying the teachers have a lot of confidence or that they know a lot about special education - but they are incredibly capable, dedicated to their students - hardworking and diligent, and they do know a lot about kindy kids. They have looked at Hannah as an individual, placed her in the context of all the other kids they have guided on this journey - that is something I cna't do - I only have Kit as my barometer - and he is a peculiar and gorgeous boy - but not necessarily 'regular' either (I wonder how many kids truly are 'garden variety' - maybe that's something we become over time?).

The teacher has been using the visuals - willing to put any self consciousness behind - in order to best help her student. She has gone out and shown intiative (and her own money according to the principal) in buying a 'mat' for Hannah -a strategy to get her to sit in a useful place during whole group activities. She has rung up Hannah's EI looking for advice and suggestions of direct teaching strategies that work with Hannah - and then she has tried to incorporate them into her classroom. I'm not saying she is a saint - but I do think it is clear - she is a professional. I am so impressed with her heart. I hope her lack of confidence doesn't mean she gets disheartened too soon - she is achieving amazing things - but Hannah is a typical special needs student - some things (many things really) are not going to bring immediate rewards. But she is getting 'it' She really is.

Hannah now is highly motivated to talk with her peers - her teachers have read Victoria's Day a couple of times and given the kids an opportunity to ask questions about DS (focusing on difference). Their parents have had a letter in Hannah's 'voice' and have had the cahnce to talk about inclusion with them. Little girls come up to her and say hello and talk with her - she so wants to extend their advances into friendship... I am trying to think about (and get up the courage) to approach one Mum to organise a play date - I've thought about what i'd say and how - and maybe giving them a chance to suggest another little girl that their daughter also likes - but i think in Hannah's own environment is important - otherwise Hannah in her nerrvousness tries to play like a boy - I saw her put her fists up like a superhero or Astroboy or her brother do today - that isn't what little girls want - maybe if they come over and get to play with her fantastic dolls house ...

She is learning - her reader is such a good choice for her - very well chosen and I am doing my my best to support their efforts by making and laminating flashcards - getting Han to go over things - showing her it is important ... school, like swimming isn't just about socialisaiton...Last Friday when I picked her up from her Nan and Pops she went through acomplete dance routine that she had learnt at school - how cool is that??

Kit says this morning 'every day is a good day Mummy' - yes he is loving it. He hasn't found his groove yet with his peers - he likes to run with the boys and is still looking for a place there. I feel that he is so capable - I wish he wasn't so aware of and motivated by his peers but he just is. At preschool he quickly foud a few boys he liked and heroworshipped one of them. At long day care - at 15 months- he had a 'best friend' - a freindship that expanded to include another littl eboy a bit later - friendships that continue to day. I think it is hard for him cos he wants a 'deeper' friendship - yet a motor driven, testosterone fuelled one... Yesterday and today - he acted out and got into trouble - in fact - his first 'sad face' from the teacher for throwing soemthing in his frustration during a concrete maths exercise and today for continuing with behaviours even after he had been asked to stop.

This morning at assembly a Mum asked me how things were going - I told her i thought they were going really well -a nd how impressed I was with the way the other children reach out to Hannah. She was pleased to hear this. She told me how when she read the 'letter' from Hannah she had talked to her daughter - apparently she has a niece with an intellectual disability - and she had explained to her daughter how she should play with Hannah just like she does with ... SMILE - AH - that is what I came here for - for Hannah to grow up in a community - cuddled by love. It is also my gift to them - for I truly believe that hte world is richer for having to slow down, for having to value things worth valuing - just as I have learned over the past 5 years...

Kit signed up for soccer on the weekend. He was so overwhelmed he cried and wouldn't say hello to the other boys in his team. Yet anohter new experience. Then to cap it all off a girl he knows from preschool - one who he doesn't lke and whom he thinks of as too rough and as 'hurting people' - she's on his team. We'll see how he goes...I hope he likes it - I think he will - time will tell.

At swimming Hannah is in a 'capped class' cos she isn't in the special nees program - waiting lists!!! but I wonder if the other 2 parents know how lucky their 'typical' kids are ... because of Hannah?

I spoke with the principal today. We are going to try and have a meeting later this term. She is absolutley fantastic. When we were looking to enrol - I wasn't sure I was reading ehr right... it was a little unlear (in part due to our paranoia). She knows exactlyw hatis happening in her kindy. She also knows just what her teachers are dealing with - now that is a good leader. I think she knows just how much hope we are placing on her - and she is progressive enough to appreciate that this huge ask - is possible - but it is a big ask. Inclusion - what should it look like in 2010? What does it look like?? This we are all grappling with - together. Cos it is worth grappling with.

Last weekend we went out with friends. The way Hannah wanted to participate in games and approach the other kids is such a testimony to her school - I wished that we were there - as there - the opportunity would not have been lost - lots of ground could have been covered. Maybe at the school dance?