so much better when she loses her brace. I gathered up her school bag,
packed her a lunch, and pushed her not to preschool but in the
opposite direction, to the school she calls alternately Big School and
Dubbledore, neither quite right but they'll do.
I pushed her into the classroom amidst stares from parents and
classmates alike, and then we hovered in the middle of the room,
unable to reach the carpet or the tables, she marooned in her huge
post-op wheelchair, me wanting to grab her and run for the safety of
her nursery.
Amongst the melée of parents and distraught excited children, she held
my hands and pulled me down. "Kiss me, Mummy. Bye bye, you pick me up
later you go now". Something tells me she'll be just fine.
I hope so. The parent pack I received last night informs me I need to
provide her with uniform, a book bag, PE kit and bag, all with school
logo on. Pricey but doable. Black shoes and Welly Boots in a string
bag, both trickier for my square footed child but not impossible. And
a double sided sheet for her to fill in by herself, with a space for
her to write her name (nope), draw a picture of her house (also not
going to happen), and a list of things for her to colour if she can do
them herself- put on socks, tie laces, go to the toilet, cut up food,
manage zips and buttons and a host of other independent skills. It's
going to be a very blank sheet.
Tia
13 comments:
LF looks very dolly in the uniform.
Oh wow, brings back memories of Emily in her brace! Wow, clothing that should fit.... I hope the brace comes off soon. I'm rooting for her (Emily is still rooting for Mog and her Nativity dresses).
Michelle & girls in USA
Why do all those things yourself when you have other people to do them for you?!! I'm sure she had a great time - but what about you?!
Celyn is at mainstream but we've not bothered with PE kit or wellies or plimsolls or even shoes. She cant walk so I saved the money. Nary a murmur from the school :-)
Wow--time flies by--she seems so grown up.
Sounds like she'll do fine--but a little bit rougher for Mom.
Debra
oh, man, i know the feeling. and the stares. and the dread. may God keep LF's spirits up, give her favor, and help her make good friends.
The Elf is mainstreamed for some classes and has adaptive PE. She does not walk wo we don't do Wellies either. I do not even buy aPE uniform as someone would have to change her and I doubt she works up a sweat!
The first year I bought the sissors,glue pens and pencils and crayons only for all of the to be sent back at the end of the school year brand new! I know she did some coloring hand over hand but guess they had the student helping her us their supplies! It is kind of freeing to know I don't need to spend all that money on the extras.
She is adorable in the uniform so much nicer than the ones I had to wear!
Shoes she needs as feet protectors if nothing else - but if I can find a pair of black slippers they'll do.
Apart from that, she will need the same things the rest of her class have. We might get away without the wellies except she'll be very unhappy not to have the same as her friends. I've no idea what they'll do with her during PE lessons (and must remember to ask!) but I'm assuming that she will be able to be included in some of them at least - she certainly joins in with dance, tennis, dodge ball, etc., if friends happen to be playing. She's a very very busy active little girl - which is why this brace is driving her demented.
The form was unfortunate - in one piece of paper it listed just about all her can'ts. I might just tear it up and get her to help me do a "Can" instead. But do I really want to antagonise the teacher before we've even started?
I must check the school rules too - when we went for our visit one rule was "we will walk inside at all times". To his credit, the head teacher instantly noticed the problem with the wording. I just hope he has remembered it was problematic!
Tia
Maybe you could add another page with the "can do's" on it? Surely the teacher wouldn't take offense at that?
You may not be ready, Tia, but I rather think that Little Fish is.
Fill in Little Fish's 'can do' sheet with comments explaining how she can do them: 'I can sit on the toilet on my own' 'I can ask somebody to do my laces' 'I can eat fine as long as the pieces aren't too big/too chewy' - it's not quite what the form intends but it might teach them a bit about finding out what they need to known in a more inclusive way. Independance doesn't mean doing it on your own, it means being in enough control to make sure that it gets done.
Perhaps you can get her to do it with photos - I know she's quite the keen photographer, print a photo she's taken of the house and include that instead, with date of taking of photo to clarify that it's her work not yours.
It won't be long until she's out of the brace, and until then I'm sure she'll have a wonderful time zooming about with her new pals in her powerchair or getting them to push her big manual.
Hang in there - I know it's not going to be easy for you, never is for parents but this is definitely the right decision for her.
Celyn still does PE but just in her school uniform. Being a cheapskate that suits me just fine :-)
Liking the camera idea, thanks for that.
Cheapskate works for me, unfortunately I can see her being very cross about extra differences (the wheelchair being a fairly minor difference most of the time as far as her friends are concerned), so I'll have to just bite the bullet.
Tia
I echo Becca's thoughts - much better to say how LF can direct/enable the prcoesses!
That's also a much nicer way of doing it than my old college - they had 1-5, with 1 being independent, 5 completely dependent...and the only concession they made was to turn 5 into a 5d if you could 'direct' the process yourself.
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