Getting Attached

Grab This Button
I had to go to an IEP meeting yesterday. As usual, I was nervous. I'm so used to fighting for what I feel Playette deserves and having her treated like a diagnosis as opposed to an individual. It's a shame, but true.

I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Even now, when things seem to be going well.

When are they going to turn on me? This time? It's gotta be this time, right?

Well, if they're holding out, they've done it again, because this experience remains in line with those previous. We seem to finally have a team that is (gasp!) knowledgeable and logical.

My biggest issue going in this time was the changing of Playette's educational disability label. They had proposed (in the paperwork I received a week in advance!) that it change from Developmental Delay (DD) to Intellectual Disability (ID).

In a nutshell, I didn't agree.

So I fretted. And I asked for help from people I knew. And then I asked for help from people I didn't know.

And you wanna know what happened in that meeting?

Near the end, the Assistant Principal looks at me and says something like, "Regarding her label, yes, she does qualify for ID, but we'd like to take more time to get to know her and make an informed decision later. Maybe at the end of her first grade year? Would that be alright with you, Mrs. Smith?"

Mrs. Smith had to pick up her jaw off the floor.

Add in that other things I was going to request, they had already implemented and I was one stunned happy lady coming out of there.

We meet again in a couple of weeks to finalize the IEP.

My biggest problem now is that I'm not going to want to leave at the end of the two-year stint. The clock is already ticking. Loudly.

But I'll do my best to focus on the here and now.

My girl is finally being treated like she deserves and I've never wanted anything but just that.