Marshall received his Term 2 report cards for Kindergarten just before Spring Break back in March. He gets one report card that his K teacher makes that is based on the same learning outcome expectations as the rest of the class, mainly academic based. The second report card is a team one where his EA, teacher, and the special education coordinator create which is based on his IEP (Individualized Education Plan) goals that I outlined in my last post which were created back in fall.
Marshall's K report card brought me to tears... in a good way! He is meeting or exceeding in all areas academically, which just fills my heart with pride. He works SO hard and SO deserves that glowing report card. From a kid who entered K not knowing his alphabet or his letter sounds, to knowing how to write them, say them, sound them out... he is now above average in how quickly he has picked all of this up!! He is on fire lately with his popcorn words, having completed the 30 required for K, and moving onto the second set (with many other classmates) and in 2 weeks has mastered all but 3 of them!! I sit back and watch him sound out words and reading books... it is insane, and we all are so proud of him.
The report card on the IEP, although there is progress and we are grateful for that, is slower and he is still resting below meeting expectations in most areas. Most of the goals on the IEP are social based, and are hard for all of us (adults not excluded), never mind for M who is restricted because of his unawareness that is a part of his autism. I know many, many families who watch their kids struggle in this area, at all ages. I want so badly for M to learn some of these skills at this age so that he is set up for better success later on. So, after seeing his IEP, seeing challenges at home and with his cousins, as well as conflict and frustrations for him at school with his peers, I thought I needed to try and come up with a better plan.
At home in M's therapy with his BI's, there are social based programs. Marshall is doing well in his therapy at home, and we are so thankful to have this extra daily support. Because this program is 1-1, all of the social programs are more talking about what to do, or how to act, and in these scenarios, Marshall is giving all of the right answers and steps. This is great, but in the live scenarios, this is not happening. In his old program which was more social based with 1-1 but with 4-6 kids in a time slot, the reports I was getting from the staff was that Marshall was leading the kids in games, playing wonderfully and respectfully, and he was doing great socially. So, because Marshall has come a long way, I questioned if he was aware that he was 'older' than these kids and was able to be bossy and organize play his way. The maturity level was not there for most, and Marshall did well. At school, among peers his age where maturity level is probably above his own, he struggles.
So, I started to talk with his BI's, as well as his BC, about other options for helping him socially. It was suggested that I put him in a summer camp (weekly and daily)... Pivot Point hosts some, or even a program through our local Rec Centre, and if I wanted, the BI's could use their time to escort him during these camps. Another idea was to use his intervention time to go to the public pool, or ice skating, or to the park. These were great suggestions, however as I thought more about these options, I thought about myself and my opposite, my sister. I go to the park and I avoid eye contact and socializing with people I don't know, it is unnatural. lol. We created a park-like backyard so I can avoid having to go anywhere all together!! My sister will go and seek out others to talk to, at the park, at Walmart... every outing is a social opportunity for her, and she is comfortable and thrives living like that. Why should I expect Marshall to go with his BI to the Rec Centre, and to socialize with strangers?? I don't want to do it, and I don't feel like I am missing out on life. What I need for him to feel comfortable doing, is gaining friends and learning how to deal with situations that arise among the kids in his life where friendship should be coming naturally, but isn't, and in environments where he already is plugged in. My thought was, that the focus should be school and how to help him connect with his peers at school where he attends daily.
After mentioning my idea of integrating BI time into school time for social help, I had to get approval from the school on both having our 1 BI, Tara, come in 3 days a week, and also, allowing for Marshall to stay longer in his day. Currently M goes part time, which looks like half days till noon. When thinking about social opportunities, I realized that we kind of rob him of that with his schedule, so allowing him to stay and have lunch with his peers, including the longer lunch-recess outside for the 25 minutes, would (hopefully) make a big difference. The school came back in full support, so last week we starting implementing it!!
On the days when BI Tara is here, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, she goes to Marshall's school after he eats lunch and heads outside with him. Once recess is done, she drives M back to our home to finish up their session here where they can talk about scenarios that just happened, and how they could do them differently, or praise for good effort :) At school currently, Tara is observing and also prompting M for when to jump into a pause in play, or how to ask others to play, or to even be aware of their existing play to see if he might be interested. So far, it has been GREAT and I am so thankful that the school is on board, allowing us to make good use of our funding for a month and a half until it is cut down in June. I am also thankful that the SpEd coordinator spoke with Tara already about meetings with her on how to best help M socially for next year!! :D Marshall LOVES having Tara at school, and LOVES driving in her car. lol. So far, I am happy to hear her observations, both because it helps us help him, and also, because Marshall is already doing a lot of great things in play naturally, even adjusting to changes and compromising a bit in how to play with others without prompt!! Of course, most of the time he still needs guidance, and so we shall see how these next weeks go and what he can learn to do on his own in that time :)
