Let me start off by saying that sending Bryce to this school was the best decision we have ever made as parents. This school is absolutely incredible and a breath of fresh air. I love the staff. LOVE! I have the outmost respect for his Special Education Assistant (SEA). She is amazing. (I’m not just saying that knowing she’ll read this... I’m saying it because it’s true. – Hi Ms. J!)

As a parent of a child with special needs, one thing I can tell you that sucked the most, at least for me, was the Individual Education Plan meeting. We sit down with Bryce’s teachers, principal, and staff and set goals for him. I have blogged about this in the past about how I’m not a huge fan of the IEP itself, saying that it’s just a piece of paper that gets filled in, revised once or twice a year through a meeting, and then gets filed until next revision. Bryce is in grade 6 now. I’ve been to over a dozen of these meetings and at the end of each school year I’m impressed, satisfied, maybe content with Bryce’s progress.

I bite my tongue, because today was the first time I saw progress, actual progress, and the goals from the IEP not only being met, but completely exceeding my expectations. I am proud. Beyond proud. So proud!

Today Bryce had student-led conferences where he showed me all that he has learned in school so far. It was the first one this school year.

Bryce showed me how he does math. He had a pile of numbered cards and had to arrange them in order and count it. Here’s a little video showing Bryce counting backwards. He’s kind of quiet (don’t know where he gets that from?!) so you may have to turn up your volume.

Bryce also showed me how he learns to tell a story in sequences using 4 cards that have pictures on them and he has to put those in order and then tell the story using, ‘first, then, next, and last’. Here is the story of the fruit bowl.

Going back to math related work, Bryce showed me how he is learning to count another way. His SEA requests a certain amount of whatever the object is by saying, “Give me X number please,” and Bryce has to put it in her hand and count it.

These may seem like little things, but when your child is barely verbal, almost 11, and has a disability that limits the things we take for granted everyday, this is huge.

I’d like to thank Ms. J for all her hard work and commitment. She is an incredible asset to my sons education, and I am very, very thankful. Thanks Ms. J!

Thanks for reading,
Tanaya