Betsy's Back!

Today we got our favorite and beloved Shape Assistant back, Betsy! We've been without her for about 5 months. She was the Doodle's Autism specialist for almost a year and formed a great relationship with him. He's comfortable with her and so am I. I've mentioned this before but sometimes it's hard having strangers in your house every day, even when the intention is for the greater good. Betsy fits right in and feels like part of our family; not any kind of intrusion. I love that I can be myself when she's here.

So she has big plans for the Doodle. She's going to be working hard on getting him to communicate with pictures. Maybe that will help with some of his bad behavior that's based on his frustration for not being able to communicate effectively.

The Doodle has speech and OT through his special ed classroom, although pretty limited. I thinks it's just 20 minutes each a week. But honestly, that's better than nothing. He finally will be evaluated for Physical Therapy tomorrow at school. It was in his IEPthat he should receive a PT evaluation back in August. Never happened. Finally, at a meeting with his teach the first week of October, I reminded her. She claimed she didn't know about it. But how is that possible I said--you signed the IEP, you were in at the IEP meeting. So, I busted out the IEP and made her a copy while she was at my house. She was going to get right on it. Flash forward to Friday. Still no PT evaluation, which means not Physical Therapy at all.


Did I call the Teacher? You know I did.

To make a long story short. She forgot. She said she forgot because of the Doodle's bad behavior because her focus has been on his behavior instead of his physical therapy. I called Bull Shit on that one. I told her to take some responsibility for dropping the ball and to stop blaming it on the autistic child. No one knows how bad his behavior has been like I do. I can barely stand it. But it's only been a couple of weeks of bad...bad. He wasn't behaving like this back in August, the first time the ball got dropped. And he wasn't behaving like this the first week of October either, the second time the ball got dropped. We had some words. Mostly my words. I told her obviously the Doodle wasn't a priority in her "medically fragile" class room and that what I had worried about seemed to be a reality, that he wasn't fitting in there because of his autism and behavior.

I was guaranteed and confirmed it with the Principal that he would get the PT evaluation he was entitled to. I haven't decided if I should push for 2 1/2 months of back PT for him or not. I hate being "that mother". But. And I have a big butt, I will be that bitch of a mom and continue to fight for that little guy, because he can't and if I don't, who will?