Sad to See it End

This is the first year that I have been sad to see school end for Ashley. Really..can you believe I just made that statement???



Ashley's teacher is wonderful. She is the first teacher that has ever - EVER - taken a real interest in learning how to effectively teach Ashley. That teacher has also decided to pursue a Masters degree in Reading and Literacy with a focus on students with deafblindness.

Whoa! Sounds almost like the Twilight Zone, or like maybe I am caught in a dream.

The changes in Ashley have been monumental because of this teacher. And, the high school Ashley attends is very inclusive. Yesterday, the PTA gave out tee-shirts to the kids that had the words, "J.R. Tucker, Henrico Countyis Best Kept Secret." And it really is that.

So thank you, Mrs. Marsh. Thank you to all the teachers and staff who have made a difference in Ashley's life. Thank you to the clinic nurse and staff for taking such good care of my daughter this school year. Thank you to the administration for the support you show your teachers and staff, and for knowing personally who Ashley is. I know in a large school that it must be difficult to know all the students, but somehow you make it happen. Thank you to the bus drivers and aides. And thank you, other students, who called Ashley your friend.

We will miss you all, but look forward to September!

The Power of One's Passion

Even more remarkable than this young man's voice is his story. Get some tissues and have a listen!

Special Exposure Wednesday

Don't you just love Springtime!



(picture courtesy of my son the photographer!)

The Music All Around Us

So Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computing, announced iCloud on Monday. iCloud is rumored (facts not available at the time of writing this post) to be a “digital locker” type service for the storage of music. It may be very similar to Amazon’s recently released cloud storage service for music.

That’s just what some of my kids, and most of their friends need – another reason to keep ear buds stuck in their heads.

I did a very unscientific study a couple of months ago at Chip’s college. Nine out of ten college students that I observed walking around campus had ear buds in.

I love music, and when I was college age, I’m sure I did my share of listening to music. But now I find music in things other than iPods, MP3 players, and yes, even iClouds. I love hearing the sound of birds early in the morning. I love the sound of wind whistling through the trees. I can sit on my porch and listen to the sounds of my neighborhood – doors slamming, cars starting, children laughing – for hours on end. The pfft, pfft sound of the water sprinkler watering my garden brings a smile to my face, and the woodpecker who has lost his way and is banging his head against my neighbors aluminum siding always makes me laugh. I enjoy trying to figure out what kind of insect is making a certain sound, and I am constantly amazed by the incredibly fast fluttering sound that comes from the hummingbirds congregated around my red honeysuckle plant.

And sometimes, I like just hearing nothing – that silence that along with closed eyes can transport me to another time and place.

I worry that my children (the ones who can hear) will miss those things. I worry that their heads and their memories will only be filled with the likes of Will.I.Am, Jennifer Lopez, and hundreds of other musicians, not the sounds of the world around them.

Maybe it’s an appreciation that will come with age, but I want them to have the experience of those sounds now so that their memories can transport them back in time when they are older.

Maybe I just need to hide all the ear buds for a day or so, assuming I could even get them out of their ears!

Just Go Another Way, Why Don't You?

Do you think I can't see the disgusted look on your face?

Or the impatient drumming of your fingers on the steering wheel?

Do you really think that gunning your motor is impressing anyone?

Or that the way you inch forward over and over again will make us all move faster?

If five minutes is going to make you really late for wherever you are headed, why don't you just turn around and go another way?

I know you live in my neighborhood because I see your car at the same time every morning. Haven't you figured out that the bus that picks up two of my children arrives at exactly the same time each morning?

It takes more than a few minutes for my children to get on the school bus. The aide must get off the bus, open the door to the wheelchair ramp, lower the ramp, help my son back his wheelchair onto the ramp, buckle the safetly strap around him, raise the ramp, shut the door and secure it.

Then the aide must make her way back onto the bus while I help my blind daughter find her way to the bus steps. The aide stands at the top, takes my daughter's backpack, then reaches out to help my daughter get on the bus.

Then after everyone is seated and secured, the bus can move.

And you, very impatient, rude person can speed up, just to get more frustrated when the bus has to stop again.

I'm really glad that you are not one of my co-workers, because if you act that way when two children with disabilities are boarding the bus for school, I can just imagine what an a** you are in the office.

Summertime, and the living is easy, or is it?

Only two more weeks and school is out for the summer. Ashley will doing some ESY services but does have two weeks at the beginning of the summer and two weeks at the end with no school services. Ronnie isn't receiving any ESY services this summer.

I really want to make sure that first and foremost neither Ashley nor Ronnie lose any of the skills they acquired during this past school year. It was a great year for them both and their progress was quite visible. But at the same time, I want them to enjoy they summer and do all the summertime things that most kids get to do.

It's finding the balance that sometimes is difficult to achieve.

I know that even things like going to the pool or playing on a sports team can help maintain communication skills over the break. And, I can come up with enough tasks around the house to help maintain their self-sufficiency skills. But what about the academics?

Do you work on academics over the summer with your children? If so, do you have a structured schedule for that, or do you just try to fit it in when you can? And how do you decide what to work on? Is it based on their IEP, or based more on what you feel they can achieve? As we all know, sometimes the school's vision doesn't mesh with the parent's vision.

I know that as a child I was so excited over the summer to have time to just play, to not have to adhere to a schedule, and to explore new places. But I wasn't a child with special needs who needed a schedule, whose skills could regress rather quickly, and who had a tough time maintaining friendships with my peers.

What's your plan for the summer? Do you have things that have worked in the past, or are you going to try something new this summer? And, does your family have any special summer traditions that your children with special needs look forward to each year? Do you feel your children regress over the summer, and if so, is that just something you expect, or do you actively do things to overcome that?

Just wondering....

An Amazing Young Woman

Are you in the mood for a good cry? Not a sad cry, rather a happy good cry. If so, watch this.



Thanks to my buddy, Lucy at the Life In Forsyth blog for this great video!