IEP Meeting Aftermath

AHHHHHhhhhhh!!! I made it through the IEP meeting mayhem. Well mostly anyhow. I still need to sign the final IEP, but we rejected once and got almost everything we asked for. I hear this is kind of a miracle. 

It wasn't without struggle, though. We were first started down the road of Individualized Education Plans in MARCH. The school district came out and did some evaluations. Speech, OT, PT, the SPED teacher, and of course, the BCBA. We had our first IEP meeting where I was so overwhelmed by everyones genuine desire to help my son, that I let a few things slip by me. Right now, Bubs isn't speaking yet, and we're still trying to help him nail down a consistent way of communicating with us. SOOOOO, I when I saw that he was only going to have two sessions with speech and both of those were going to be co-treats, I decided that wasn't enough. There were also several other sections that weren't even filled out yet. They had also asked me to sign a consent for an extended evaluation. I didn't mind that at all, but there was no way I was accepting an IEP without placement included. I exchanged emails several times, and it seemed more time was passing between each reply. I grew more and more frustrated and eventually cc'ed the Director of Special Education. 

Long story short, we ended up having a very productive meeting. They ended up CREATING a sub-separate classroom for him. In addition, they decided to hire a CNA full time. I suppose it would end up being the most cost effective thing for them, but regardless I was IMPRESSED. I won't go into too much more detail about the paperwork but I will say this...

HOW THE HECK DID MY KID GET TO BE SO OLD!?

Now that the IEP madness seems to be more or less over with, I can focus on the fact that the reason he needs an IEP is because he will be three. Ay yi yi... We're going back to school shopping for the first time tomorrow. I'm both happy and sad. Motherhood gives me mixed emotions? Weird right? 

When he was first born, I couldn't imagine his 3rd birthday. I didn't know at the time that he would start full days in school at 3. I assumed it would be 5 or 6. I thought if I could make it to 5 or 6, then things would calm down. I could have a little more time for myself. I would never have guessed that he would start so early. In a few weeks he'll be gone for a good portion of the day. I'm trying to figure out what to do with my time, but also trying to decide what our new routine will be. I'm going to miss him SO much, but I am SO excited for this next chapter in our lives. The school years.