Ohhhhh...I am in trouuuubbble.....

(Jori is hanging her head in shame)


Guess who got a phone call from the special ed teacher from S's school today? Apparently S didn't complete the homework that was listed in his agenda, and he told them that he was out paying his respects for a boy that had committed suicide...and the school didn't believe him. Apparently I should have sent a note to the school to make them aware of this situation - just so they would be, well, prepared. I am so bad. I even said that to the spec ed. Yup, I said "My bad."

Come on, what else could I say? I explained to her that S didn't really know the boy, and if either of my sons were going to be bothered by it, it would have been the A-man more than S. I didn't think to mention it to the school, well, to be honest, because I just didn't.

To make up for it, I made sure S did all of his homework tonight, plus even a little bit more of his project than I would have probably expected him to do at once. He did his own science homework (it's on ecosystems...) but I ended up scribing the written section because I didn't think the teacher would be able to make heads or tails over what he had put down. I also wrote a note to his EA and classroom teacher apologizing for the oversight. (Am I being a suck up???)

Anyway, was a good conversation with the special ed teacher after that. I am going to need to get some clarification on something she said - something to the effect that he wasn't really going to have a "full time" EA. Excuse me? I guess there will have to be some sort of rotation to cover off breaks, etc., so he may have periods of the day that he doesn't have full support. That I can live with - hell, he's had to do it for 8 years, what is a period a day?

She also told me that she is going to send home an 'anxiety' sheet to complete - something that will point out the various triggers, and the signs to watch for to make sure he doesn't get to that really bad place. We will also be having a "full team meeting" to make sure all aspects of his safe plan are known to all of his teachers. This year they have introduced rotation classes, so he has his regular classroom teacher, his French teacher, and another teacher for History/Geography. Plus his EA, and any of the other EA's that might work with him have to be aware of what to watch for, how to get him 'unstuck'...never ending, I tell ya.

The project that S is working on is a History project, but it is actually more of a personal history. One of the sections he worked on tonight was "10 goals I have." Some of his answers really made me hurt for him. His goals included "to not get angry at every little thing", to "get a girlfriend this year", "to become popular" and "to get more friends." He had other, more positive ones - like "to get my orange belt in karate" and "to become a famous singer", but most of them focused of his self-perceived short comings. Like, "to be become more smart for school." He already IS smart - he just has learning disabilities - he learns differently than the average child.
There was one point though, that was very positive for him. It was the 'parent interview' section. I asked him to complete the first 4 questions of that, and you should have seen his little face just beam when I answered his questions about a time I was most proud of him, what he liked to do as a child, and a funny thing he did when he was younger. He loves to hear stories about himself. He is such a sweet boy (well, sometimes) and all he wants is to be well-liked by those around him. I guess it will come. He knows I love him with my whole heart - I tell him every single day - but I am usually the person he gets most angry at, too. Maybe that is a security thing - he knows he can get angry at me and yet I will not stop loving him.

The A-man finished his homework with little-to-no prompting, and when I had sent him a message via Facebook asking him to make sure the kitchen was cleaned up, and the dishes done, he actually did it - before I got home from work. Sure does make life easier when you don't have to clean up just before you are going to make a mess! He seems to be finding his niche in the highschool, and it sounds like he is starting to make a few new friends. Some of the people he has science lab with are actually boys that he was friends with in Junior and Senior kindergarten. What are the chances, huh?

He has started to figure out what he needs for his science project that is due in a couple of weeks, so I guess I will be making sure all of those items are in the house so that he can start the first series of experiments. Oh, the joys...

Pounding headache tonight...better try to get to sleep a bit earlier tonight...