Finally a good note for Cooper!

Cooper has had a rough couple of days at school. Finally I got a good note from his teacher, thought I would share. He is such a goof, stealing other kids food! LOL!

"Cooper had a good day. He played outside with another boy in our
morning class. They were running and laughing together. We are
outside with the “gen. ed” children at the same time – so the opportunity and
the models are there for his “inclusion” time. However, right now, he is
choosing the little boy in our class. He looked so
happy!

Cooper loves apples. I can’t remember if I told you
this or not. He is “taking” another child’s sliced apple pieces and just
loves them. Is it okay if he has these apples?"

Celebrities and Special Needs

While surfing the web tonight I saw two very interesting stories about celebrities and their children with special needs.

First of all, John Travolta finally admitted that his son had Autism. About time!!! It really pisses me off that they wasted all those years claiming their son had Kawasaki Disease (a complete lie)when they could have been helping the Autism cause. This week John Travolta had to testify in court for the extortion case that followed his sons death. He admitted under oath that his son was Autistic and had a seziure disorder. No one knows better than me how hard it is to tell people that your child has a disability, but seriously he was 16 years old! John Travolta is a very famous, very powerful man...he could have made a difference if he wanted to.

In happier news, Katherine Heigl (yup, Izzy!) just adopted a little girl from Korea. She told Ellen that the adoption moved so fast because the little girl has special needs! Good for you Katherine!! I can't wait to hear more about what these special needs are, but for now here is the link to some pictures. http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/popwrap/katherine_heigl_brings_home_baby_7AY7u97vne2ToDgwvQ97PP

Ornery

Ornery is a new word for me. It is kind of an old fashioned word that is defined as "having an irritable disposition". So why am I suddenly googling this word? Because Quinn's teacher keeps using it to describe his mood in his communication book!!! Now this is not a word I would have ever expected anyone to use to describe Quinn (Cooper maybe), but today it was followed by a description of how he pinched and bit his aide and hit another student! Honestly, my first thought was that the teacher must have put the wrong note in the wrong book, because my Quinn would never do that. But that is very unlikely, so I guess he did. Once again I am waiting to hear more details. Was he happy or sad when he did these things? Maybe he was just trying to interact with the other kids and didn't know how? Maybe it is just acting out because he misses his father? He never hits Cooper!

Oh well, his note also said that they went swimming for the first time today and he had a great time and was really good. I knew he would love the swimming! It looks like he will only get to go every other week, but we will see.

Back to School Day

Today was Back to School day at Quinn's new school. I took Grandma Berta and we went to watch Quinn's class for a while. I wish I had remembered to bring my camera! It was really nice to be invited to watch the class like that. We saw most of circle time and then their entire "station rotation". There were a few other parents there, but they were only parents of the typical kids. Their kids were excited to see them, but Quinn really didn't care that I was there. Oh well, at least one of the other boys in his class was happy to see me. He is a sweet little boy with special needs that is a little higher functioning than Quinn is and he is in love with me :) He must have remembered me from last time I visited because he got all excited as soon as I walked in, LOL!

Quinn did a great job while we were there. They finally found him some chewy tubes and gave them to him whenever he tried to put something inappropriate in his mouth. He wore his glasses almost the whole time, he only took them off when he was looking in the mirror (I guess he thinks he looks better without them). Then when the aide put them back on he was really great about letting her. He is starting to understand that he needs to go and check his schedule between stations. They are using actual objects instead of pictures, so he picks up a puzzle piece when his schedule says puzzle time, a computer mouse when it is computer time etc. They adapted that for him really nicely. During puzzle time he identified the "red" frog over other colors very consistently (suprising both his aide and his mom). His attention level during his one-on-one time with the teacher has also improved. The teacher is really happy with his progress and so am I. His aide told me that he is doing so well with the potty that yesterday he didn't have any wet diapers at all!!! He peed in the toilet three times and pooped in his diaper once (but it wasn't wet)!!! All I can say is....wow!

And to top it all off, this morning our neighbor was talking to him from across the street. He has been doing this for two years now and Quinn has never paid any attention to him at all. Bless that man, because he never gives up even though Quinn gives him no response. Well, today Quinn stared right at him while he was talking to him! It may seem like a small thing, but it was huge!! This school is obviously the right place for Quinn, I can't wait to see what he learns this year.

Cooper's first bus ride!

All ready for his first real day at school!

They're gonna love him :)

Cooper hates to wait, so he was very unhappy that he had to wait for the bus.

Then it got there and he wasn't too sure, notice the death grip on the rail?

He looks terrified, I sure hope he didn't cry the whole way to school!

Quinn signed "more" at school today!!! I am waiting to hear more details from his teacher, but I find this extremely exciting. I know it seems minor but it is a big deal for my Quinny. He seems to be adjusting great to the full school day too. Today he was wide awake and full of energy when he got off the bus. He actually ran to the house, usually he tries to get me to carry him :)

Cooper was cranky today. I think he was pissed that he didn't get to go to school. We did take a nice long walk with Grandma Berta though and he really enjoyed that. He insists on holding both our hands, which means I have to walk in the grass. Can't wait until he has school everyday so I can walk on the sidewalk again :)

This morning I took Cooper to school and left him there! It was only for an hour but he did great. He didn't get upset when I left, he never does, and he cooperated pretty well with his teacher. She said he is starting to calm down a little and sitting in his seat at circle time so that is good. I know darn well that he can sit perfectly through circle time and so does he, he is just overexcited in his new school and apparently feels super comfortable there. Today he took his shoes off, of course that reminded his teachers of when Quinn was in their class....he never left his shoes on :) When it was time to leave his teacher got down in front of him (she is super tall) and said "Bye Cooper". Guess what??? He said it right back! It was very quiet but it was definately "Bye"! He did the same thing yesterday, things are looking good for Cooper and his talking since that is a really hard one for him and he didn't even need to be prompted!! So the teacher says she is thrilled with his behavior and everything so all is well on that front.

After I brought Cooper home I left him with his Grandma Berta and went to visit Quinn at school. I had loads of school supplies to deliver so I figured I would spend some time watching his class. When I got there it was a little nuts, which is understandable since there are 10 kids in the class and 5 of them are three year olds that just started yesterday. The other 5 all have special needs and one was screaming while another had a huge seziure. Quinn's teacher looked less than thrilled with my visit's timing, but I understand that it takes some time to get everything going smoothly. I got to watch her do some one on one work with him and I was happy with it. It was very similar to the kind of stuff they did with Cooper at KKI. Quinn was having trouble concentrating, but who could blame him. I hope he will get used to this kind of work in time, the good thing was the teacher didn't let him get away with not doing it. I also got to meet his one on one aide and I really liked her! After that they had lunch so I went with them to watch because I have been very curious about the whole buying lunch thing. I decided to buy Quinn a school lunch everyday because it will give him a chance to practice eating with utensils and try new things. I wasn't sure he would actually eat the school lunch, but I thought we would try for a while. I asked his aide if she thought it was a waste of money that I bought him lunch and she looked at me like I was nuts. Apparently Quinn absolutely loves the cafeteria food and pretty much cleans his plate everyday :) Today he had pizza, which came out pre-cut into little pieces and looked nasty. He also had mashed potatoes which also looked nasty. Then there was some canned corn which of course, looked nasty. He also got applesauce and juice. He ate it all! He seemed to really like it, but it definately reminded me that I have always found school cafeteria food to be, well..... nasty :) But his aide helped him eat it with a fork and a spoon and he really enjoyed it. With eating a lunch like that everyday plus the free breakfast that he loves (even though he eats at home too), I expect my skinny little boy to fill out a bit this year!

Kindergarten...

Quinn has gone to school for two full days now and I am still not really sure how it is going. That is one of the biggest problems with having a non-verbal child, they can't tell you about their day. Basically all I know is that both days he was really happy and tired when he got home, and both days he was wearing different pants when he got home. Apparently the new teacher is having a hard time figuring out his diapering schedule, LOL! Today all she wrote in his communication book was "Quinn had a very big and very messy BM." Cool, he is welcome to save all his poopy diapers that can be described with the word "very" for school :) So I am not really sure if he is wearing his glasses or if he is eating his lunch. The teacher did write that he was happy and a "pleasure" to have in the class. I am going to have to go over there and find out what is really going on, but for now I think everything is going really well. Tommorow will be his first day with typical peers in the class. Four typical children and four children with special needs, it is like a dream come true!

Cooper goes to his first day of class tommorow morning, but it is only for an hour and I am staying with him. I know he will love it though!