This fall she will be going to school!!!!!
We have noticed issues with our girl since day one. Thanks to friends in the adoption community, I quickly began wondering if our daughter could have Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).
I noticed it in China, the rocking back and forth when stressed. I thought it a self soothing behavior and thought it would subside.
We witnessed it quickly when we came home, the head banging in her crib at night. It only escalated from there:
Spinning
Constantly moving
Putting things in mouth like a baby
Repeating sounds over and over and over again
Dislike of certain foods due to texture
Hair pulling
Etc.
Yet more than the SPD, are some of her daily behaviors that just aren't quite up to par with kids her age. These things are beyond a difference in personality. My list of "off" behaviors is long for sure! Friends urged me to have her evaluated at the school district to see if she'd qualify for services. I called, she endured a 2-hour evaluation and……she qualified! We're getting help this fall!
You'll never guess what happened at our post-evaluation ARD meeting. While for the most part, my girl is smart as a whip, her behaviors certainly did show through. At the end of the meeting, one gentleman approached me and I was told he would be L's teacher. And get this…. He told me that he is an adoptive dad of 7 children! He looked me in the eye and said words that I will never forget, words that gave me such relief to know that…
I am not crazy.
He stepped forward and said to me,
"I see what you see. And we can help!"
He gets me! He understands where I'm coming from as an adoptive parent! He sees the behaviors that I see. AND he can help my daughter!!!!!
The program runs 5 days a week at a school near my home, although not the school closest to my house. It is a full day program, but I can and will elect to send her for only half days. I can get schoolwork done with my boys in the morning while she's gone, we can pick her up and have lunch together and have our afternoons free. Admittedly, it is a little weird to be a homeschooling mom sending one child to public school, but this is a good thing! I am very excited for her and for what this can do for our family!
I'll share more details as we get closer to August. In the meantime, please pray for our Quiet Tiger, that this next year is absolutely tremendous for her in pre-school!
I'll share more details as we get closer to August. In the meantime, please pray for our Quiet Tiger, that this next year is absolutely tremendous for her in pre-school!
So stay tuned for those First Day of Pre-School photos!
