His birthday is the first week of school, and he would be one of the youngest in a traditional classroom, but that doesn’t matter in our classroom. We make lots of accommodations for his Autism and ADHD as part of our routine.
With summer approaching, I’m making my poolside reading list for professional development. Having an understanding of how our kids’ minds work is so important. Today I’m sharing 5 books on my special needs parenting book list that help me understand my kids better.
I have always told myself that I would do what each kid needed, even if that was different for each child. This year, for a time, we had kids in both public school and homeschool. I got to experience that choice and I was surprised at how it felt. For my public school student it was a drastic change. He struggled, which made watching the transition even harder for me. There was no cheers when the bus arrived each morning for him.
the tools we had developed when they were a preschooler have been outgrown. Their triggers and struggles have changed; they need more support with social skills. They are also now more capable of being responsible for their own reactions.
Getting an IEP for my autistic son was a nightmare, it included a denial and an advocate. His needs don’t show up accurately in the testing environment because he is a good reader and has a great memory. We tried applying a second time after we had his official Autism diagnosis and it was uphill battle because their previous testing showed no need. Eventually we got one only to have it reduced the next year. He was thriving, but he was thriving only because of the IEP accommodations. We knew he would not be able to adjust to a normal classroom environment.
