"NightMist" wrote in message
...

Well it has taken some getting used to on all fronts, but I do think
it is an improvement, so far anyway.
This is BOCES,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_o...ional_services

While they do get stipends from the local districts and the state,
they also charge the district tuition. The amount depends on the
services provided.
Just that difference to us at home is huge. We didn't have to send in
86 boxes of kleenex, a dozen dry erase markers, 6 boxes of chalk, and
a years worth of graham crackers, plus whatever they felt Ash himself
might need. We didn't have to send in anything at all. That was a
difference felt on the home budget let me tell you! Since DD3
graduated last year and won't start college until spring, this has
been the most financially pain free September we have had since 1986
when DD1 started kindergarten.

Ash started school on the 9th of this month. They start a few days
later, end a few days later, and don't have the massive number of
inservice days that the district does.

Just two weeks after he started we had the Fall IEP meeting. The state
requires two, one in the fall and one in the spring. His new teacher
is totally juiced about him. First off he is the most amiable and
well behaved kid in his class (of 4), and she believes that this is
already having a good effect on the other three.
Then to quote her, "He really does have total recall!". She found
this out working with flash cards and a dry erase board. She thought
the word 'refigerator' was too long for him and by the time she had
refiled it he had written it down, as well as the next word which was
'unicorn'. Then he refiled 'unicorn' while she was gaping at the
board, and he was poking her saying 'unicorn' (which is a word he
knows from his own flash cards). He will say words he has figured out
how to say, some sounds are easier for him than others. In this case
he was trying to prompt her for the next word, he does that at home
all the time. This did allow us to emphasize that for him treating
words as independent units works better than sounding out, or phonics.

They are working on trying to sort out which words that he writes he
actually associates with a meaning. A daunting task. I think it is
more than we know because he spending more and more time pouring over
his books rather than just copying out of them.
They are quickly sorting out which worksheets he has seen before as he
will fill them out quick as anything if he knows them. They also
discovered that they have to take the cards out of magazines since
otherwise he will take them out himself, fill them out, and line them
up in a row.

He loves the pool. Since it is a theraputic pool he doesn't even come
home reeking of chlorine. This is the first time he has ever had
access to a pool on a regular basis, he goes four times a week. The
director of the facility feels that learning to swim is an important
life skill (in this area it is, a great lake, a biggish lake and a
multitude of smaller bodies of water, rivers, and streams), so she
tries to make sure that every student in the students with
disabilities facility learns how to swim. So this is multiplely good
for our lad. They quickly learned that in the gym as long as he is
bouncing he is a happy boy. Since they have a trampoline they have
learned why Ash's independent aide is a needful thing! He can be up on
the thing and bouncing before they get the door closed if there is
nobody to hang onto him. So they are going to keep the aide at least
until after Christmas. They do eventually want to be done with the
aide, but they are not willing to run risks.

Naturally practically the first person he made friends with was the
biggest scariest security guard. Think Wesley Snipes as Blade, only
he talks less and growls more. One of the things they do the first
week is introduce all the kids to the security guards (parents got to
meet them on the introductory tour), so they know the guards and the
guards know them. Ash clapped eyes on this guy and immediately ran up
and gave him a hug and looked up at him and said Hi!. The guy smiled
at him, which just impressed the heck out of the teacher. Ash always
gives this particular guard a hug and a Hi! every time he sees him.
Our lad just liked him on sight. When I said hi the guy just nodded
and sort of rumbled, maybe I should have hugged him?

NightMist

I bet you feel like hugging yourself, as well, huh?

WHAT a change. And what an exciting time for Ash and his family. I hope the
program keeps the funding that it needs and that it continues to go well for
all of you.

Cindy