I didn't have much time yesterday morning to blog, and then last night we had some heavy snow, so the satellite was covered - therefore no internet. When I switched on the laptop this morning, it was working. Must have warmed up or something.

Between last night and the night before, S finished his History report. I think we have seen the reason why he needs another software program (called Keirzwell) installed on his laptop. Reading the text book was quite a struggle for him. But, with my help, he was able to finish the assignment. Some of the reading was done by him completely - with some assistance - and other parts I just read to him.
Of course, the voice-to-text still isn't working, so he had to type out the passages. There were times when he got frustrated with that, so I would type what he was saying. I didn't think that was cheating because that is what the voice to text would have done, had it been working. I was very careful to type exactly as he spoke - even only putting in punctuation when he said to!
I did notice that he can become frustrated quickly, but at least I was able to steer him away from that. I can see, however, how he tends to get away with minimal effort in school. I'm sure neither the EA nor the teacher will insist on the extra effort that Mom insists upon. But, he needs to be pushed as any 'normal' child would be. He has the IQ - it's been proven - he just needs some extra assistance to make it a level playing ground.
In S's IEP, it has been stated that he will be given extra time for assignments, or reduced work load. The teacher and/or EA (I'm not sure which) took the time to highlight the sections of the project that S was to do - maybe about half of the other students - and I took that to mean that for this assignment, he was being given a reduced work load. Yet S claimed the teacher said he had another 5 days to do the project. No way. I told him that if the class had to hand it in today, he handed it in today. If he wanted to wait until Monday, I told him that I felt he should be required to do all of the questions. He is handing it in today.
We have a team meeting tomorrow to review S's IPRC. I know that I won't really have the opportunity to discuss this with the teacher, but the second term IEP will be worked on soon, and I will be sure to address it then. It needs to be one or the other - not both. He can DO the work, but he will take the easy way out any way he can. That is typical for any kid, isn't it? Then you add in the ADHD...yeah, he'll be as lazy as he can be when it comes to school work.

The A-man had a Science lab to work on last night. It took him a fair bit of time, but he was very good to sit and make sure he completed the entire lab. The template he is using was revised to better reflect what the teacher was expecting in a lab, and he used it. Of course, there were a couple of things he noticed after he had printed it out, but he was quick to change them and reprint.
He had a drama assignment yesterday - he had to sing. Poor class. On the upside, when the A-man sings, (if that is what you would call it...) the lovely Tourette stutter goes away! He thinks he should be living his life like a musical where everyone just breaks in to song and dance whenever they want to talk. (I laughed so hard when he said that last night at the dinner table.) At least he isn't going to allow the TS to stop him from doing the things he wants to do, and he is able to put the humour in to it. He wasn't quite there last year when it was all so new to him, but I guess he really has matured in more than just his height. I really am so proud of him. He has come a very long way. Trust me.

I have added a new feature to my blog - a weather pixie! So, if you are reading this blog and don't live in the 'great white north' we call Canada, don't forget to take a look at the right hand side, around the middle of the blog, to see what great types of Ontario weather you are missing out on!!