Education

I am inserting a backtrack in here... before we went to the neurologist who diagnosed Zach, he was seen by one at the Cleveland Clinic.  Zach underwent a CAT scan (had to be put to sleep and even asleep he refused, physically, to lie on his back so they had to scan him lying on his side.  It was a harrowing experience during which a nurse argued with me about something but then an attending doctor told her "this is his mom, she knows her son!"  YAY for that doctor).  The doctor who ordered the scan told us this: "Well, his brain is all there... he could grow out of it or he could not."  That's IT!  You see, Mrs. M, you have a nose on your face...

When Zach was six we began looking for a house.  We were living in a 2 bedroom 65' x 15' mobile home.  When I see them now I have no idea how we fit in it, but I do understand why it was so cluttered!  (Unfortunately we followed with an old house with few closets and no usable basement... Hmmmm.)  Our first concern was, of course, affordability.  The second was always "what can the local school district offer Zach?"  We looked in many local cities, townships, villages.  When we settled on a house in Kipton, it was largely because the school district was supposed to have a great new fabulous program for autism.  
    Leaving the Amherst preschool was one of the hardest things I ever had to face regarding Zachary's education.  My gut told me something about the new school was not in line with my own educational philosophy.  I wasn't wrong and I will keep this short and as sweet as possible.  After several years at the school in our district during which we requested a new teacher (my sister-in-law Teri came to that IEP meeting for moral support and to help me speak when I couldn't find the words.  I am so blessed to have a family that cares!)and could have taken the school through due process for not following his IEP, (I am leaving a lot out here because what I have to say is not positive and I will just leave it at that), we decided that the county MRDD would be better able and more importantly WILLING to provide Zachary with his educational needs(here is my plug: SUPPORT YOUR SPECIAL NEEDS TAX LEVIES!).  It was a tough decision when it is often best to have a child educated in the "LRE" (least restrictive environment) and I will admit that in our cruel world there is a stigma that goes along with the name of the MRDD school.  I didn't want my son to be thought of as a "retard" and people can be cruel and ignorant.
    It was a bumpy start at the MRDD school... mostly because, God bless her, the teacher he was placed with seemed overwhelmed and unsuited to the job of handling a classroom of special needs students.  I believe it take a special person for this job... that they are "cut from the cloth" for this job.  An aide in the classroom brought it to my attention that Zach spent his entire day sitting doing nothing, that the education he was there for was not happening.  This aide risked her job to tell me the truth and to this day I pray that God is blessing her for that strength of character.  Fortunately, after some conversation, Zach started spending part of his day in a room across the hall, in which taught a woman who became very dear to my heart.  The following year he was placed in her room.
     Mrs. D was one of the most dynamic, loving, creative and INVOLVED teachers I have ever known.  She had been an educator for years, some with special needs and others with typical students.  She knew how to seek out that which lit a spark in her students and build upon it across the curriculum.  Zachary started to do simple math.  He learned to address people and learned how to calm himself through sensory therapies.  Zach used a weighted vest at school and spent time in a quiet area when he was finding it difficult to deal with the sights and sounds of the world.  
     Unfortunately Zachary's verbal abilities were still very stilted.  Mrs. D. was very firm and had a specific direction for him and he learned a lot of social skills from her.  Repetition is very helpful to Zach and he learned to greet people by name (not always successfully, because sometimes I think he just forgets).
     To this day Zach uses a speech pattern called echolalia, which is basically repeating what a person says to him.  Because of his lack of receptive language, there is a barrier to his understanding the appropriate response.