Saturday, August 27, 2011

Ammon's First Day of 1st Grade

This year Ammon will be streamlined into general education. He's very intelligent and needed something a bit more challenging, but still needs more assistance with transitions and knowing how to socially act appropriately. The school has assigned him a full-time aid to offer additional assistance when needed. Ammon has made drastic improvement over the past year and we are very excited about this experience.

Kindergarten didn't start out to well and frankly was one of the darkest period of my life. I spent weeks battling with the school in Arizona, stressing out to the point of not sleeping, sending letters to the school, district office, superintendent, special education coordinator, contacting advocacy groups, speaking with an attorney, contacting anyone from the school district who was willing to listen, mailing certified letters, etc. Finally, we were able to correct the issues, make the appropriate changes in his permanent record, and find proper placement for him. He thrived once we were able to do this.

The first week of 1st Grade was challenging, but we have open communication with his teacher and have discussed ways to assist him with his needs. After experiencing lots of anxiety and anticipation about the entire process, I feel a sense of relief knowing that everything will work out just fine!

Maddie Sue was excited to rule the house once again...
at least until Ammon returned home.
What a big boy! We've spent the last few weeks having discussions about 1st grade, who his teacher is, what classroom he'll be in, and talking about the full-time aid that will be assisting him in the classroom. We're very excited to have him in Mrs. Higgin's classroom. She has a lot of experience working with children on the autism spectrum and her son has high functioning PDD-NOS.

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