Yesterday was our annual IEP meeting, which fell at the perfect time for a much-needed day off from work. The Hubbs and I sent The Princess off to school and busied ourselves getting ready for our 10:00 meeting with her team.
Now, I have to say that we are extremely fortunate. I know I don't say it enough, but our girl has been blessed with a team of professionals who genuinely care for and about her, and everyone in that room is 100% on her side during every one of these meetings. So many times when I read or hear about an IEP, the parents are fraught with worry and concerns for the wellbeing of their children. I am so very thankful for The Fabulous Mrs. G. and the team of professionals that work with the kids in The Princess's class.
As expected, this meeting went very smoothly. Our girl has met or exceeded four of her six goals from our last evaluation. She is showing gigantic amounts of progress in many areas, including her ability to follow directions. The team is very impressed - as are we - with The Princess's ability to retain multiple melodies, and we're all going to work on adding to her repertoire of songs as well as general imitation.
Since The Princess is turning five next month, she'll be entering kindergarten when the next school year starts. This was one of my concerns going into the meeting; I wasn't sure if she'd be with her same team, or even in the same school. Since everything is done through the county's special education district, the programs are spread around the area. The program she's currently enrolled in is called Pre-K Pals, so I was a bit worried about what would happen when kindergarten started.
I needn't have worried. We've been assured that she will remain in Mrs. G.'s class at least through kindergarten. After that, she may move across the hall into Miss A.'s class with some of the older members of the autism program. The bonus to this is that Miss A. is her summer school teacher, so we're not looking at a complete upheaval of The Princess's routine or team anytime soon.
So, I'd like to take this time to send up a quick prayer of thanks. It's nice to know that The Princess is looked out for, and I wouldn't trade any one of these guardian angels for all the chocolate in Fannie Mae.
