We are not terribly happy with Isaiah's teacher or his school right now.
This week is conferences and book fair events. As part of the schedule of events, Monday was "crazy hair day." Isaiah has very dark hair and it's short - he is a boy and we keep his hair fairly short, so "crazy" for him is hard to do. Amy decided she'd spray his hair blue and spike it up. He loved it.
When she picked him up, she noticed that his hair was no longer blue and he said they took him to the nurse's office and washed his hair. She asked him why - did the color make him itch (he has very sensitive skin) and he said no that he didn't want his hair washed. So, she sent a note on Tuesday to the school asking why his hair had been washed.
The teacher returned a note - and copied page 13 out of the parent handbook - that said "unusual hair colors will not be permitted." OK - then WHY do a crazy hair day and not let kids color their hair for the day? The rule also says that no scarves or bandannas would be allowed; today is crazy hat day - so are they going to take the scarves or bandannas off the kids who wear those today?
The only exception to this rule is school-sponsored Spirit Week. Since this was "only" a book fair event, it wasn't sanctioned by the school. We think it was pretty stupid and silly. Isaiah was one of three who had his head forcibly washed. His bus driver is a para for the school and she said there were kids all over with colored hair. Amy is totally irritated, and I don't blame her. Her conference is tomorrow and I'm sure this will be addressed. Amy has a laundry list of items to address with her teacher. (I've never met her, but I can't say that I like her just judging by the comments she writes in Isaiah's agenda.)
Today, for crazy hat day, Amy sent his Darth Vader ball cap - it has Darth's face on the bill. They better let him wear that hat...
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
He called my name "Isaiah"
I picked Isaiah up from latch key this afternoon. He frequently has very insightful comments for me. Most of them start "when I was a baby in Mommy's tummy."
Today was no different, except he had a new twist. He started the usual way "when I was a baby in Mommy's tummy..."
God made me with brown skin, black hair, and brown eyes. And then He called my name Isaiah.
How powerful can that little statement be? "He called my name Isaiah."
Isaiah continued to inform me how big God was and how he can do everything, people just don't understand He is everywhere. He kept telling me about God all the way home.
We are so blessed that He did call his name Isaiah and entrusted his care to us.
Today was no different, except he had a new twist. He started the usual way "when I was a baby in Mommy's tummy..."
God made me with brown skin, black hair, and brown eyes. And then He called my name Isaiah.
How powerful can that little statement be? "He called my name Isaiah."
Isaiah continued to inform me how big God was and how he can do everything, people just don't understand He is everywhere. He kept telling me about God all the way home.
We are so blessed that He did call his name Isaiah and entrusted his care to us.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Amoxicillin and other funnies
He can say amoxicillin on the first try, but he can't say antibiotic. Go figure.
Crampa, I so very much love you. Can I have a pop tart?
When I was your age, was I a baby?
Crampa, I so very much love you. Can I have a pop tart?
When I was your age, was I a baby?
Monday, October 12, 2009
Ups and Downs
For the most part, I think the school year is progressing nicely. Isaiah is obviously still struggling with reading and remembering what words are what and how to spell things. What he remembered last week may not be what he remembered last night or will remember tomorrow.
We went to KC this past weekend and while we waited for breakfast at Perkins, I wrote down some words on the place mat for Isaiah to read. Simple words seem to be as hard for him as the more difficult words. My sister thought it was my "left handed printing" (with a crayon) that made it tough for him to figure out. I hope that is the reason and not that he's regressed a bit. I spelled h-o-t, r-u-n, r-a-n, t-h-e-y, t-h-e-r-e, and a few others. He got 50% correct on the first try and ended up getting about 90% overall. He just has so much trouble remembering things.
Unfortunately, I don't know what to do to make things better. I have bought "helper" books, we bought LeapFrog pen and books, we have done flash cards - and I can't honestly tell you that any of them have made any noticeable difference. I worry about him in the grades to come and wonder what the school system has in store for my sweet little guy.
We ate lunch at my brother's church and while we were there, my sister-in-law's mother sat down across from my mother. She's not seen Isaiah before and asked me who he belonged to. I told her that he was Amy's little boy and he blurted out that he was our little sweetheart. Now, how sweet is that? LOL - it was too cute and we all had a good laugh.
Isaiah is having mostly green days, with a yellow one here and there. He's had one blue day - which is really bad - and red day, which is the worst. One of the reasons he's had a couple of bad days is the para decided that he couldn't twirl his pencil while he was thinking. This is one of those things that they ended up adding to his IEP. Isaiah will be allowed to twirl his pencil as long as he is not interfering with the other students. His teacher told the resource teacher that Isaiah was less of a disturbance with his pencil than it was when he tore his desk apart searching for another one (after the para took his first one away from him). This para has worked with him since the beginning of last year so she should know that Isaiah sometimes has issues with changing his routine. The teacher was not too happy with the fact that the para decided to enforce this seemingly little rule. LOL - not any more. Isaiah's compulsiveness won and he can now twirl or even sing to himself if he needs to while he works.
I think some of Isaiah's excessive movement is because of the structure and the strictness of the classroom. He's just not coping too well with someone else making the decisions regarding what he does when. He'll be fine once the routine becomes HIS routine, but right now it is not. Also, we're sharing our home with a young lady and her two children - a three year old boy and a four year old girl. That means Isaiah also has to share his "crampa" and he's not too happy about it.
The sharing is OK most of the time, but when they all want to sit on Ron's lap and Isaiah doesn't have room, he's pretty tolerant but I can tell he's not happy. That is HIS Crampa and he is sharing because he's a good kid but he's not happy about it.
LOL - he doesn't seem to mind sharing me, though.
We went to KC this past weekend and while we waited for breakfast at Perkins, I wrote down some words on the place mat for Isaiah to read. Simple words seem to be as hard for him as the more difficult words. My sister thought it was my "left handed printing" (with a crayon) that made it tough for him to figure out. I hope that is the reason and not that he's regressed a bit. I spelled h-o-t, r-u-n, r-a-n, t-h-e-y, t-h-e-r-e, and a few others. He got 50% correct on the first try and ended up getting about 90% overall. He just has so much trouble remembering things.
Unfortunately, I don't know what to do to make things better. I have bought "helper" books, we bought LeapFrog pen and books, we have done flash cards - and I can't honestly tell you that any of them have made any noticeable difference. I worry about him in the grades to come and wonder what the school system has in store for my sweet little guy.
We ate lunch at my brother's church and while we were there, my sister-in-law's mother sat down across from my mother. She's not seen Isaiah before and asked me who he belonged to. I told her that he was Amy's little boy and he blurted out that he was our little sweetheart. Now, how sweet is that? LOL - it was too cute and we all had a good laugh.
Isaiah is having mostly green days, with a yellow one here and there. He's had one blue day - which is really bad - and red day, which is the worst. One of the reasons he's had a couple of bad days is the para decided that he couldn't twirl his pencil while he was thinking. This is one of those things that they ended up adding to his IEP. Isaiah will be allowed to twirl his pencil as long as he is not interfering with the other students. His teacher told the resource teacher that Isaiah was less of a disturbance with his pencil than it was when he tore his desk apart searching for another one (after the para took his first one away from him). This para has worked with him since the beginning of last year so she should know that Isaiah sometimes has issues with changing his routine. The teacher was not too happy with the fact that the para decided to enforce this seemingly little rule. LOL - not any more. Isaiah's compulsiveness won and he can now twirl or even sing to himself if he needs to while he works.
I think some of Isaiah's excessive movement is because of the structure and the strictness of the classroom. He's just not coping too well with someone else making the decisions regarding what he does when. He'll be fine once the routine becomes HIS routine, but right now it is not. Also, we're sharing our home with a young lady and her two children - a three year old boy and a four year old girl. That means Isaiah also has to share his "crampa" and he's not too happy about it.
The sharing is OK most of the time, but when they all want to sit on Ron's lap and Isaiah doesn't have room, he's pretty tolerant but I can tell he's not happy. That is HIS Crampa and he is sharing because he's a good kid but he's not happy about it.
LOL - he doesn't seem to mind sharing me, though.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Manimiotic
Isaiah is sick but he doesn't want "pink medicine." I told him the pink medicine is called an antibiotic and that unless he had an infection, the doctor wouldn't give it to him.
He said he doesn't have "the pink eye" like someone at school has. So he doesn't need the manimiotic. He doesn't like manimiotics. And, he doesn't like shots. He doesn't want the flu shot today, "please don't give me the flu shot today because I will cry."
Dr. Niederee was very good with him today. He showed Isaiah that looking in your ears doesn't hurt (I was a willing guinea pig for him) and looking in your throat doesn't hurt either. Isaiah was pretty scared and was concerned about the stethoscope. He was also pretty concerned that the light was getting too close to his face, too. He can't stand to be held down so getting him examined in the doctor's office is always a challenge. Today, he was able to sit on Amy's lap but he felt pretty confined when the doctor held his hand on top of his head to look in the ears. Once the hand moved from the top of the head to holding just the ear, it was much better.
After examining him, Dr. Niederee (who is not Isaiah's regular doctor) said, "so, is he diagnosed autistic? He seems to be very mildly affected and very high-functioning." I think the flailing of the arms was a dead giveaway.
Isaiah was all smiles when we left, especially since he didn't get a shot. He told Dr. Niederee that next time he was sick, maybe he'd see him again.
But no shots. OK?
He said he doesn't have "the pink eye" like someone at school has. So he doesn't need the manimiotic. He doesn't like manimiotics. And, he doesn't like shots. He doesn't want the flu shot today, "please don't give me the flu shot today because I will cry."
Dr. Niederee was very good with him today. He showed Isaiah that looking in your ears doesn't hurt (I was a willing guinea pig for him) and looking in your throat doesn't hurt either. Isaiah was pretty scared and was concerned about the stethoscope. He was also pretty concerned that the light was getting too close to his face, too. He can't stand to be held down so getting him examined in the doctor's office is always a challenge. Today, he was able to sit on Amy's lap but he felt pretty confined when the doctor held his hand on top of his head to look in the ears. Once the hand moved from the top of the head to holding just the ear, it was much better.
After examining him, Dr. Niederee (who is not Isaiah's regular doctor) said, "so, is he diagnosed autistic? He seems to be very mildly affected and very high-functioning." I think the flailing of the arms was a dead giveaway.
Isaiah was all smiles when we left, especially since he didn't get a shot. He told Dr. Niederee that next time he was sick, maybe he'd see him again.
But no shots. OK?
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