A New Year, A New School

Charlie is attending a new school this year.
We are very fortunate.
His autism diagnosis was finalized at last three weeks before school ended last year.
His old school rushed through the requirements in order for Charlie to be eligible for a new program.
This year the school that is next closest to us started a special program for kids on the autism spectrum.
It is called Connections and it allows Charlie to remain mainstreamed but receive excellent support.

So this year he has two teachers and two classrooms.
Ms. McCormack is his first grade teacher.  He spends most of his day there.
Ms. Dickison is his Connections teacher.  He starts and ends his day in the Connections classroom.
He also goes to Connections daily for 30 minutes for "club".
In club they work on social skills, Superflex and language skills... as well as other things.
Additionally, Charlie can go to "home base" in the Connections room when he needs to regroup during the day.
He can eat his lunch there, do recess there, and go there instead of attending music/PE if those classes are too sensorily overwhelming.
Of immense importance is the fact that "home base" is a productive place.
When he is there, he is always working on something.
It may be school work, it may be social skills, it may be coping skills...
But, he is always working on something.

The Connections program provides a teacher and two aides.
Charlie has 1000 times more support this year than last.
As of two weeks ago, he also finally has an official IEP.
And while we still struggle in various ways,
I have hope -
Much more hope than I did last year -
That school can be a productive and positive place for my eldest son.
Who is so, so loving, eager, bright and intellectually capable.
(And so distractible, impulsive and disruptive in comparison to his peers.)

We were so excited to be included in the Connections program during its first year at this school.
And even more excited when we learned that the program was to be located at Little Cedars.
Little Cedars is the newest elementary school in our district.
It is less than two miles away from our home.
It is a large school with excellent resources and fantastic administration.
As a parent, it seemed that everything was aligned perfectly.

Charlie had some trepidation, however.
He liked his old school and wanted to continue to be a Raven.
So we signed up to attend the family orientation at the new school in August.
Ten minutes in, Charlie saw one of his best friends from his old school.
He instantly warmed up.
Ms. Dickison even made a special trip to the school that day to meet him.
By the time we left, he was more than eager to become a Wolverine.

As I write this, school has been in session for just under two months.
But I feel confident in saying that this school and this program are already, and will continue to be, a huge blessing for our family.