Thank heavens for easy child!

[Californiablonde]

We had easy child's IEP this morning and I found out he is actually doing quite well. His case carrier/special resource teacher says he has really come out of his shell in the past two weeks. When he first started the new school he was super shy and timid. Almost completely non verbal. Now she's reporting that he has made several friends and his grades are good. His History teacher was in the IEP as well, and told me that he is getting a B in his class, works hard, and easy child actually approached him this morning before school and started a conversation with him. That is huge for easy child! Normally he doesn't talk to adults other than the ones he knows really really well, so for him to walk up to his teacher and start a conversation is a really big deal for him. His study skills teacher reports that he is well liked and is smiling, making jokes, and engaging other kids. She is proud of him as well.

The only area he is struggling in right now is math, which is normally his best subject. easy child is gifted in math and was doing tenth grade math last year in the sixth grade and getting an A. This year he is in a common core math class and his teacher explained to me that it is taught in a whole different way than traditional math. Instead of using numbers and graphs, it is being taught in a way that relates math to real life situations. She says that she is not surprised that easy child, who is on the spectrum, is having a hard time grasping the new concept. His study skills teacher is taking time out after school to explain everything and break it down for him, and she anticipated that he will soon be caught up with his work in that class. Other than that, his grades are terrific.

He just started a new social skills group with some other kids and his speech and language pathologist says he is doing well so far. I am really impressed with easy child. I know it's been super hard with him suddenly being yanked from his dad's, and a school he used to love, and being put in a whole different setting. It sounds like he is coming along just fine, and I'm proud of him. I am so relieved I have at least one kid who is easy going and adapts well. Nothing against difficult child, but it is nice to have at least one kid who doesn't stress me out as much!

 

[Confused]

Omg!!! Thats so wonderful for you all!!! I smiled while reading this thank you for giving an update

 

[InsaneCdn]

In reality, easy child has as many problems as difficult child. It's just that easy child's issues are known, as are the general management techniques and interventions and accommodations that work. You still have to "be there" for him, be his advocate, keep things moving forward, but... he's a known entity, and yes, that makes it 100x easier.

Keep plugging with difficult child... you do need to get answers, so she can turn into a known entity too.

 

[BusynMember]

Oh, Amber, I sooooooooooo know how you feel. Every day I thank God for Julie, Jumper and Sonic. It really DOES help to have them, even though I have 35 and Scott, who walked away from us. I felt your post.

Not all kids with issues are unpleasant. I'd take ten Sonics. He has such a positive outlook about his Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and tries so hard and does so well and EVERYONE always tells me what a great young man he is (good for my ego, although it has nothing to do with me). Same with Jumper, who has LDs but tries so hard and is such a sunny young woman. We parents of difficult children SHOULD thank our lucky stars for our PCs.

 

[Bunny]

That is fantastic news!!! You have every right to feel proud of him.

I have to say that I'm not surprised that he's having trouble with the new common core math. A lot of kids are struggling with it because it's more abstract than regular math. easy child is having a hard time with it too. I don't like the new math. It's too hard for some of these young minds to grasp. They need to learn the basic facts and not worry about breaking everything down and showing how they got to their answer.

 

[Californiablonde]

I am eternally grateful for his case carrier/study skills teacher. She works really well with easy child and they seem to have a good report. He does most of his homework with her in her study skills class and then she meets him after school a couple times a week to help him get caught up on anything he didn't finish in class. easy child rarely has homework to bring home, which I am eternally grateful for. I used to hate helping my kids with homework just as much they hated doing it. I was a great student in school and got straight A's but teaching is a whole other story. I'm just not very good at it. I am thankful that she is helping easy child so much. And the medication increase is definitely helping. His teacher says that he used to space out and not write down his assignments in most of his classes, but suddenly in the last week he has been writing everything down in his agenda every day. Thank goodness for that. I actually feel like I'm doing something right as a parent. difficult child makes me feel as if I'm doing everything wrong and I'm still struggling on what is the best way to help her. At least with easy child he seems to be doing well. I will be super happy when difficult child can get going. Sometimes I feel defeated with her but I am her mom so I'm not giving up!

 

[Bunny]

I completely understand about feeling defeated with a difficult child and the frustration that it brings, so you deserve the joy of having your easy child headed in the right direction!

 

[Californiablonde]

I just got easy child's progress report in the mail, and it says he has four A's with two B's, one of them in math. He was getting a D in math but it looks like from the progress report that it went up. But I just got his current grades emailed to me today and it says his math grade is a C and he also has a C in science. The rest are A's. So now I'm confused as to which are the correct grades. Is it the progress report I just got in the mail or is it what it says on the computer? Anyway, I am still happy with his progress. I just got difficult child's grades and they are straight F's. Yikes!