Well, I didn’t expect that to take so long. I think I was frustrated as I wrote a heartfelt yet balanced post without too much emotion. Why don’t I save to draft more often? I also realized this morning, as I lay in bed, I still haven’t posted a picture of the Shetland Triangle. Bad blogger extraordinaire.
I will start with the knitting, of which there has been very little. I ripped my sock to just before the picot and reknit on 0’s. Much better. I also tried an Eye of Partridge heel which got lost in the striping but I think it is there. I ripped back the sleeves on my Kersti cardigan and making them a tad longer for my monkey arms. I finished a tank top in Berroco Zen at the shop and continue to work on a Karabella Gossamer stole. Nearly every sentence in this paragraph starts with "I". While I know it is my blog–even Cameron knows better. I am not rewriting it but I am going to save this draft right now.
In other realms, time has been pressed with the kids. We had Cameron’s meeting and it went worse than we expected but perhaps there was some good in that too. Once again, the school is recommending a self-contained placement in the fall. They have planned a high functioning 12:1:1. For those not familiar, 12 students, one special education teacher and one aide. The disabilities are comprised of speech disorders, learning disabilities and autism. 3 of the kids have autism. That is 1/4 of the class. Cameron needs positive role models and this classroom will not offer that for him. I brought up to the district that this was not the least restrictive environment and asked about the integrated. I was told it was filled. This is not a legal answer and I pointed out to them they had to offer him something less restrictive. I think they tried to threaten me with an out of district placement but I said we would love to look into it. We are waiting to hear back from them but I suppose they will try to stall us for as long as possible. I am asking to visit these placements before the school year ends.
Now for the good results from this meeting. I have gotten Cameron a private, independent evaluation. The results are proving to be better than that which the school showed. I attended a parent advocacy workshop and found I was not alone. 4 of the 12 parents in attendence were from my district. The trainer wants to take on our case with the district. I bought and borrowed a ton of books on advocacy and am changing how I handle our paperwork and interactions with the district. Today I am touring a local Catholic School. And, lastly, I am reading all I can on homeschooling.
Owen’s coasting. He has a new teaching assistant in his class. Owen adores older men–"grandfather" is one of his favorite words. And Gracie is awesome. It looks like London is a no go. And I have been gardening–not something I especially enjoy.