We had an IEP meeting last week as an initial review to see if Luke would be accepted to the school and YAHOO he got accepted!!!! We still have some kinks to fix but all is pretty good! My school district is pretty darn adamant that Luke be placed in 5th grade (which is where his age would put him) and mom is pretty darn adamant that he NOT be placed in 5th grade. My school is not budging on this issue but, DSD has respected moms wish and put him in 4th grade against the districts demands. Problem being his IEP still states 5th grade... But hopefully we can resolve this issues once and for all at our 60 IEP review and after he has FINALLY been evaluated. Luke has been here for 7 months and has not yet been evaluated..... pretty nuts! He has evals set up for the end of September with the NJ specialized Child Study team for Deaf and Hard of hearing children..... So I am hoping this all helps get his placement where it belongs. It would be SUPER hard to put him any lower then 4th grade as Luke is now the Jolly Green Giant and is a super duper tall boy for his age and he just keeps on growing! Amazing what food and love can do for a child! He is now almost 4 inches taller then when he came home! We have gone through many different sets of clothing as he continues to grow.
Luke went off to his first day very excited (obvious by the fact that he woke me at 4:30 am this morning) and was ready for school at 6:30 when his bus comes at 7:20. He was very nervous too. It didnt help that his "signing" aide on the bus knows NO sign language, but hey she came prepared and brought paper and a pen.. ahhh really.. he cant really read yet!
Luke left on his bus and I left for work and we were both nervous, yet beyond excited for him..
Will he fit in with the kids there? Will he understand what is being taught?
But at the sametime we KNOW he is going to SOAR at this school. I told Luke that going to this school means his future is WIDE OPEN and he can do whatever he wants to do with his life and be whatever he wants to be. As of now, he is still hoping to be a police officer in our town.. we shall see how long that lasts!
I received several updates from staff at DSD during the day and a picture too! Luke had an amazing first day! His reports from his teacher were GLOWING.. of course that made this momma glow and know all the more that this school is where Luke belongs!
Luke came bounding off the bus and in the door and ripped open his backpack and couldnt wait to show me his papers and tell me some of his day. He did say that it was hard to remember too much that went on today as he was very nervous and overwhelmed (very expected). But he did say he LOVES it and LOVED his school, his teachers, his new classmates! We are so very proud of him today! He showed his teachers he is a hard worker and a very smart boy with a ton of potential! I cant wait to see what this year brings!! YEAHHH Luke!!
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9 comments:
Good job, Luke!! I couldn't help but smile wryly about the signing aide who can't sign...Daniel's art teacher today sent home a list of words including "field archaeologist," "financier" and "necropolis" that she wants him to be familiar with when they start studying Egyptian art tomorrow. Hmmm, I think I detect a little mismatch of expectations here!
Oh, this is so great to read!! It gives me such encouragement as we have just received pre-approval to adopt our 5 yr old daughter (who is deaf) from China!! I love to read your blog!
Glad to hear that his first day was so encouraging! Hope that continues!
Great work Luke!! Great work Luke's family too - everything happens for the best!
hugs - aus and co.
He looks so handsome and grown up in his first day of school picture. It is just stunning that a school district would insist on putting a child with Luke's background in 5th grade. Do they really expect a kid to make up for years of education and language training in just 7 months?? I pray it all works out for the best for you guys.
Oh, I'm so thrilled with relief for you that Luke is no placed where YOU, his momma, knows he should be.
I can't wait to hear further updates on how he is thriving.
I am so glad he had a great day at school
So happy for all of you! Good job to keep pushing and working to get him where he needs to be. Special ed parents have a full time job just working on having them in the right place and advocating for what our kids need! Looks like Luke really enjoyed the day! Hope that keeps up!
Hoorah for Luke, and Mom too for winning the fight. I have two deaf adopted son's. They were 5 and 6 at adoption with no language. They both took off in Deaf ed class rooms and now my older son is at our state school for the deaf (I'm in Washington state). I can't speak highly enough about our school for the deaf. Its just amazing and always getting better. We have a large number of internatonaly adopted kids attending about 11. In a school with under 200 kids in K through 12 that is a large percentage. The Pensylvania school for the deaf (the one in Pittsburg) also has international adopted kids as my friend who has 4 deaf adopted kids hers go there. So if you school wants to net work with other deaf school that have adopted kids they can contact them.
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