As a mother, I will never give up on my child. As a mother of a child who has autism, I will never give up hope.
I look into his eyes and I see all the potential that he has to offer to this beautiful world and I just know that one day the world can see what I see.

Follow my blog as I share my life and my experiences as a person who loves someone with autism.

Friday, September 7, 2012

First Week of Grade 6 in a New School.

Like I mentioned in a dozen or so blogs ago, Bryce’s old school only went to grade 5, and we didn’t think he was ready to go to a ‘high school’ type setting like middle school, so Bryce is in a new school this year that goes up to grade 7, like the typical elementary schools do.

Day one. The first day of school I was really nervous for him. New school. New students. New teachers. New SEA’s. New introductions. Almost feeling like we’re starting over. Oh, did I mention new students??! Well, a lot of my fears were set aside when we met Bryce’s full-time one-on-one SEA worker. She’s really nice. She’s new to the school as well. Her first question to me was asking if there was anything she needed to know about Bryce. I must of talked my ear off for an hour giving her a long list of things I thought she may want to know, everything from stimming, to what he likes to do for fun, to how often he uses the bathroom. I know, I know, a little too much to take in, but she was really patient and seemed to tolerate me so far. I think we’ll get along just fine. Both seem to be on the same page, and that’s extremely important.

Bryce’s grade 6 teacher seems very nice too. He immediately impressed me on the first day of school where he was playing a game with the class to get over that introductory stage of getting to know peoples names and included Bryce in it asking the class if they remembered Bryce’s name, his SEA’s name, and even my name. It seems small, but it meant a lot to me. I got this vibe from his classmates that Bryce would be accepted without question.

Day two. First full day of school. I was thinking about staying for a third of it, or an hour even, but after bumping into Bryce’s SEA at Walmart before school started, I had this incredible sense of calmness, and decided to just let him be and I knew that he’d be just fine. I picked him up after school right on the dot, so anxious to see him and find out how his day went. I was informed that he was excellent and had a great day. YES!

Day three. Bryce’s SEA created a communication book, probably the best one I’ve ever used before, and I was just so appreciative of it. Again, something small, meaning so much. It just made it so easy to find out how Bryce did, what he did, and let me know anything that I may need to know. But that’s not all. I get to communicate back writing down when he went to bed, when he woke up, what he did at home, etc, so Bryce’s SEA can get a feeling of how her day with him may be based on those factors. Great idea, right? I know. I was very impressed too.

Day four. The first week of school and there’s already an event!? School picnic. What a brilliant idea! The whole school gathered together and laid blankets on the grass and each brought something for their little 4-5 premade groups. Bryce was in charge of chips, but because another kid in his group was going to bring chips, I figured I’d get some Tim Horton donuts instead. Yeah, Bryce was the hit of the picnic, of course. Can never go wrong with Timmies.

What a week! It went by so quickly. I am so happy and impressed with this school so far, and it’s only been 4 days! I can’t wait for Monday!

Thanks for reading,
Tanaya

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