The Journey with Special Ed Children

AS I walk up the ramp for the train in the morning, I see a wonderful sunrise. I look to start a new day, a new journey, and then begin to think of my children. Will they look at this day as a journey? Will they see that life never permits us to take the same path, and that to truly survive we must be open to new ideas, new thinking and open concepts in the world. Well much to much on an esoteric level for a 13 and 18 year old, back to reality. Today my 18 year old returns to college. She has been home for 6 weeks, a new person, new ideas, new ways of living. Certainly this was an adjustment for my husband and I, but she is an evolving being, made PLENTY of mistakes, but is on her journey to where she needs to be. Our journey as parents of an 18 year old is to guide, and as she reminds us, she is legal and 18. Yes, what does that word legal mean? Especially when you are in college??? Hmm, maybe you can drive, but since you have no money you cannot afford insurance, hence no car, you have no job so hence, you must live with your parents, you can not legally drink, oh, but yes, you can vote. So in reality, what does 18 mean? Hmm I have learned a very valuable lesson. 18 means a journey of adolescence. Spirited, impulsive, all knowing, all trying, their new beginning of becoming an adult, not a mature adult, but in actuality an adult. For a parent of an 18 year old, it's a time of sitting back and letting go. Of course for my husband and I this is extremely difficult, but we have to do it. My daughter had a rough start at school, she does have a disability. When she came home we outlined the rules, our house, our rules. No one in the house when we are not home. Seems like a normal request, not to an 18 year old who loves boys. While she was home she did great, picked up my son from school, did errands and even helped around the house. We were so pleased until we found out she had a new "love" on facebook, oh and one of the pictures was of her and the boy is her room. Yes, her room. Well detective Mom to the rescue. Really!!! Hmm not many people have surveillance cameras, my daughter did not use her brain! Oh did we see them on the camera. My classic comment to my daughter is, " I know everything, God tells me everything and if you don't think so, test me!". One step ahead! Can't lie, know the truth. Now that I am calmed down I have different thoughts. My first thoughts were security, I don't know this person he could rob me. Now my thoughts are, hmmm, she thought we would say no, so she snuck him in. Okay no harm done, yes against my wishes, but she did admit he was in my house without permission. Okay, it's not drugs, it's not alcohol, she's on birth control and she's in a safe place. Hmmm, that journey I was mentioning. Too much yelling, too much anger, saying goodbye was difficult, but essential for her journey. Her journey is hers, alone, no Mom, no Dad, her destiny. What do you actually know at 18? My son on the other hand is just beginning his journey, 13 years old. Gawky, pimples and growing!!!! Hormonal changes galore! So when the teacher writes to have a meeting because he wanders in thoughts during writing, literature and history, and cannot get motivated? Really? My son has an extremely high IQ. These are not his subjects to excel in, but at home I guide him through the writing. Tolerance, patience and Mom. Okay so home schooling is better and quieter. Here we go again, we just had a med's increase which worked, but the writing is just not his forte. We all excel in certain areas, this one is not good, but he will get through it, puberty is tough, boy do I know it with girls, now for the boys! I often ask people what it is like to have normal children, no hassles, no special ed teachers, no therapists, no drama? I don't think I can find a person who does not experience one of these issues. Okay so your child has one, mine have all, don't get me wrong, I love my kids to pieces! I have fought for each one of them tooth and nail, advocate to advocate, attorney's versus school systems, I have my battle scars for my kids. Normal? I'll really have to look this up in the dictionary! So about that journey???? It's still in the sunrise!

As 2014 comes to an end, I feel that I should count my blessings with my children. I know that I started to blog about my children's disabilities and it sounds so sad at points, but looking back on the year, I see that my children have grown. Although the stress for my daughter in starting college has been monumental, I did expect issues, maybe not to this extent but I was not totally surprised. I find that with each day the light shines brighter! My daughter has been home for 2 weeks now and the family influence really does calm her down. She does miss school but her confidence and self esteem exudes at home. We can talk to her about her final goals for the second semester. To our surprise she rebounded well on her grades on the first semester and she is encouraged by this. We are hoping that she even progresses more, but as we are all aware this is a process. As far as my younger son, he is now 13 years old, he has been enrolled in his art school for the winter-spring semester and is enrolled in a social program at at a local center. My husband and I are totally encouraged by this. He is doing well at his school and with the increased medications he is on, he really is thriving. New steps, new issues and new developments are bound to happen and we just have to roll with the punches! I am encouraged for 2015. The New Year will bring a new part of me that will unravel, the "letting go" process. Now that my daughter is 18 years old, this will be a difficult process and I am aware of it. We all want our children to thrive and succeed, but now it's her turn to take the reigns. We'll see how this goes during the year. I am hoping for good things in 2015... see you then!~

Marching Forward

As the time passes by and your college bound child is "hopefully" working well at school. I go with the philosophy "no word is good word", your focus goes on the second child. My second child, my son, also has learning disabilities. When he was a baby, his speech was delayed. I always attributed this to the fact that my daughter babbled and she spoke for him. One day a relative called out to my son and there was no response, so automatically we assumed he has some type of autism. Not knowing a lot of his family history, my son is adopted, I started to get worried and concerned. I brought him to doctors and they referred me to birth to 3. This is a wonderful organization that helps young children progress. They come to your home and help them with motor skills and verbalizing their needs. This helped my son, but he is such an independent soul. After this program, the school system took over, because now he would have an IEP, he was entered into the preschool program to help mainstream these children. This was another great program that I had no concept on. Until you have children with needs you have no idea the programs that are really out there. I wish I had known for my daughter. As my son grew this program also evaluated him. I know that they were so set on telling me he had alot of autistic tendencies. The real issue was that my son always had eye contact with you and paid attention to you. Many autistic children don't have eye contact with you and are in "their own" world. After pre-school and because he is a December baby, we held him back. Best thing I have ever done. Onward to IEP's and evaluations, psychological evaluations to diagnose his ADHD and executive function issues. Now to concentrate on the second child, with alot of luck the first will give me this time with him! Until next time.....

The first month on independence

As a parent of a child with a disability, we hope and pray we make the correct decisions for our children. There comes a time when we believe we must let them go and experience on their own. There is a time when they turn "of age", this age is 18. Many of us "parents" do understand that even though they turn 18 it really means close to nothing. Children with ADD/ADHD are 3 years emotionally behind the normal 18 year old. Okay so let's put this in perspective, 3 from 18 is 15, yes, 15 years old, so your 18 year old that is supposedly legal for some things is not capable of even making a rational decision. Now let's add this to the new transition, College, independence. Whoa!!!!!! Step back, if your child is not in an environment that has checks and balances, which all colleges do not, get ready. My daughter is 17 1/2 going on 14 1/2. She has gone away to camps for a month at a time but never having to achieve these "critical" milestones, A) roommate, B) independent homework, C) food, key, we truly take this for granted, D) good or rational decision making. Luckily for my daughter, I choose a school that works with her disability. Thank you God, for giving me this forethought! I will tell you I fought tooth and nail for my daughter to go to this 5th year school. If I had put her in the environment the school system recommended, the little issues we have been encountering would be monumental. Freedom on the internet, Whoa, no 18 year old with the mentality of a 14 year old ever thought people monitor this?? Yes they do! Getting caught, I feel is the child's way of calling for help. Be very happy they are getting caught, you can adjust the behavior. Boy did my daughter get a lesson, the lesson is do what you're told, adhere to the rules or you will get cut off. Hmm, do you think that registered??? Oh yes it did. Secondly, my daughter's therapist wanted her to call when she needed her, REALITY!!!!! she needs a therapist all the time. I took the liberty to get her a therapist at college so that she can see them once a week, if she thinks something is wrong, go to them and bounce the idea off of them! This I hope is my biggest saving grace. Thirdly, I'm seeing a therapist. We, as parents, need a huge break. I feel guilt up the whazoo!!! Truly I have to let go, my daughter has to learn these life lessons, she is going to fall more than not and she has to learn. My part now is to be there to wipe the tears and give her the encouragement to continue. Some of these lessons will be huge, but I will not be there forever and she needs to learn. It makes my heart bleed, but I did the best I could and I am there. I text to her everyday, just little things, I love you, have a good day, etc. I'm hoping that the road she is paving will be a good one, but in truth, it's hers, not mine. Those were the life lessons that lead me to her, she is the most precious gift the world has given me and I really thank God everyday. We as parents need to move on also, my life lesson, no more diapers, no more skinned knees, or can you make me dinner. These are new things for me to learn. But now the key is to let her know 18 really means nothing to a 14 year old!

Innocence in Transition

As I have written these blogs I wanted to give back to people who have the same situations as myself. It's not that there aren't any really qualified people out there that can help you, but it seems that when I needed some type of information that was over the top or not the norm, I had to find it. I'm certainly not complaining, God gave me this task because I could handle it and that's what I will do for my children. If you have read my blogs I don't just have one child with a learning disability, I have two. I've only written about my first, but soon it will be the second's time. His disabilities are totally different from my daughter's. As you know I've gotten my daughter as far as college, I wouldn't say monumental, but a challenge, one that was well worth the fight. Today I'm going to blog about innocence, this is for my daughter. When we raise our children we hope that we can give them all the information they need to move on. Move to a new independent life, there are things that we cannot tell or explain. Before my daughter went to college I truly tried to explain, sex, birth control, date rape drugs, but the experience is what they strive for, this parents cannot give them. My daughter is very petite and beautiful, she has a very asian look to her. My daughter has Non Verbal Learning disability, she is very innocent and naive. She did have some transitional issues the first two weeks of school, but I expected these. At 17 I'm not confident she can navigate totally on her own yet, but she must start. The telephone call on the third week was one I never thought I would get. She was sexually assaulted/raped on campus. Truly a telephone call I don't wish on anyone. She called me with her RA, and the support from the college. Helpless on the telephone, these people assured me that my daughter was safe, got in touch with the correct people immediately and the police. She seemed relatively calm, and in control. Of course she did go to the boys room on her own, the rest got out of hand. She went to the hospital, had all her testing and was going to rest. I spoke to the counselor at the school and she said my daughter knew she did wrong by going to the boys room but No is No and the boy did not respect this. School security saw both of them together all day so the story was correct. Trying to compose myself I tried to rationalize the situation. She was safe, in good care, I needed to see her, but at this time she needed time. I called the police station and not surprisingly they would not give me information I would have to ask my daughter. I called her therapist and what I did not know is that the statistics say 1 out of 4 girls are assaulted in college. This is a statistic only relating to the girls who tell. This school deals with my daughters disability so the boy probably had the same disability. Two lives to take a drastic turn. I had to rationalize my feelings to do the best I could for my daughter. I asked to come see her, she wanted time. After a day I told her that her father and I were coming to see her because I needed to hug her and tell her life is not bad and this has to be turned around. She consented to see us. When I told my husband he flew off the handle, his baby! We went to see her, in three weeks this child grew up, she wasn't my baby anymore, she was an adult, carried herself with confidence, and sorrow. Tears, hugs and love were definitely needed. Our conversations were based on forgiveness, not ruining anyone's lives with anger, and moving on. The recommendation was to help others that have gone through this same experience. Giving back is always a healing treatment. My daughter has a lot to give, this could be a good avenue, hopefully she will act on this. Nothing will ever give her back what she lost BUT with our love and help she can move on. Sometimes God works in very difficult ways, I'm hoping that this can help her. We are a close family and we will get through this personal tragedy together. Disabilities are difficult but ALWAYS workable!

Leaving for College

It's been awhile since I have written, August was a very emotional month for me. My daughter made her way to college. A month's worth of preparation, not the packing or shopping but the important issues that parents with learning disabled children really care about: medication, doctor calls, support systems, roommates, money allocations, to name a few. The magnitude of appointments, schedules is mind boggling. Then packing!!! This truly is a trial, trying to explain to my daughter that she doesn't need to bring her entire wardrobe, yeah I know! So some recommendations from a first time Mom that have really been good; A) have a debit card that is attached to your checking account; My daughter's checking account is attached to mine. I can see all the money that comes and goes! She is not aware of this. I see all the purchases and I made another account that has all her money in it, I transfer when she needs it. Believe me the first week was a disaster. She thought the well was endless until I told her that she only had $200 left for the next couple of months! Reality check! B) I gave my daughter a diary, but in this diary was important business cards: ie: therapist, medical insurance, my email address, telephone numbers for emergency calls. I put laundry instructions, one section is designated for money, yes money, starting balance and she needs to substract each withdrawal to keep up with what she has. I told her, it's very embarrassing when you use that card and there is no money there!!!! One place for everything! It works. Then off to the destination, I promised myself I would not cry. My daughter was lucky enough to have other friends attending this school so she knew people. This helps, but she did not know her roommate. We moved her in with the help from some other friends, set up the tv, internet, made the bed, put the clothes away and then, "Mom you can leave now!". Wow where did that time go. The emotional goodbyes, the please be good, use your good judgement, and we were gone! I remember the day I picked her up from the adoption agency, small tiny, 18 years ago, my baby! But I must let go, she has to learn on her own and face all the hurtles we all went through. We went to have lunch with my son and then home. I went home and scoured that room! She was on a new adventure in her life, my was about to start by cleaning, and painting her room. The dogs walk by and miss her! Quite an adjustment. So you might think they have gone, out of site out of mind, heavens no! Let's see after one week of one line texts and no phone calls, we called! "How are you?" Good do I have enough money in my account? How much did you spend? Did you start subtracting in your book? If not, you better!!!! And she sounds good. I was also informed the other day by my daughter that she changed rooms and roommate. Okay so no one from the school called me so I guess it's okay and she said the RA's said okay, hey she has to live there not me! I do remember when I went to college and I was not happy with my roommate but I endured. After I found that out all I texted her was Be happy, I love you! What else is there to say. I asked to come up and see her and she responded I have homework and a paper due, maybe another time. Okay, well I'm coming up for parents day so live with it!!!!! It's only been 3 weeks but I am beginning to think this is a good fit for her school wise. I know this is just the beginning of what I hope to be a good experience for her. She never had this at High School, my husband and my wish was that she could really have these people know my daughter and she could make lifelong friends. Who knows we still have 8 more months to go! We have our fingers crossed!!!!! Until next time.......

It's coming to the time when I have to acknowledge that I must extend the strings of attachment to my daughter. With all the challenges, changes, and some maturity that have happened to her, she will be leaving us to go to college. It is so tough for parents of a learning disabled child. This summer has taught me how I must hand over responsibility to her, she has to make the decisions of how to proceed. My daughter got a summer job as a camp counselor at a camp she and my son have gone to for many years. Although her psychiatrist recommended that she take the summer off, she wanted this job. She went in headfirst, this is a good thing but to a learning disabled child who is impetuous it can be very challenging. We had some difficult times, learning how to focus on the children, having patience, and obeying the rules. There were times as a parent I wanted to intervene BUT, I stayed out of it. I let my daughter navigate with the Directors and believe me not all the results were positive. It came a time when she had to let them know she had a disability. Which brings me to a very big question no one can answer "When do you tell a potential employer if you have a disability?" Do you tell in the beginning and they discriminate? Do you not tell and when issues arise, you then bring it to the forefront? No one can give you an answer to this. It's a hit or miss situation. Not what anyone wants to hear but there are no answers. In the issue of my daughter, she hit some challenging times in this job, she worked for 5 weeks and had two off. They said they would call her back when they have more children, hopefully this is true and not an avoidance, but regardless there is a learning lesson. Every job is a learning lesson, hopefully my daughter will someday realize that this was a valuable one. She did have the opportunity so I look at this as very positive. There are no right and wrong answers for our children, we have to go with what we feel would be the best until they can make these decisions, which is very difficult to let go of. So as a parent, I have to extend my strings, hope that the tools I have given her she will remember. Hope that she calls when she truly cannot navigate and focus on what is important. Now I have my daughter going to a college that deals with children and her specific disability so I'm hoping the environment will help her understand she is not alone. Hopefully she will see that they all can work together to deal with what God has given them. I truly believe this will be a positive. I know I'll get the phone calls, I am anticipating getting them. This will lead to our next journey, which I hope will be a great one for her. Along with greatness comes a lot of heartache and disappointments, but I'm looking at her to triumph. Until next time...