. . . was yesterday. We made it out the door by 7:43 am yesterday, and were in New Providence by 8:46 am - no stops for coffee though we passed at least six Dunkin Donuts on the way. I was in need of a caffeine fix - up late the night before working on charts, Micah woke up at 3 am and was jabbering away. Changed his diaper and he went back asleep only to wake again about 30 minutes later.
I spent part of the day in the observation room watching his sessions with his primary teacher. He managed to behave fairly well, though there were a few times I wanted to reach through the one-way glass to park his butt in his little chair.
After the first session I went out for the much-needed, long overdue coffee and came back. I thought I'd go to the parent group meeting, but there seemed to be a lot of people, and being tired I just wanted to be by myself so I sat in the lobby for a bit. Micah's teacher came through for a few minutes on a break so she chatted about how she thought he was doing.
Summit has early dismissal on the first Wednesday of every month, so instead of having to wait until 2:45 pm to get my baby back, he was tucked into his coat and had his backpack on and was trotted out at 1:45. He was very proud that he took a nap after lunch (I sort of expected he would since he usually crashed quickly after his session with Ela.)
Meanwhile back home, Steve got a call from the school district was told Micah has a driver for Thursday and Friday.
So this morning we had Bob and his minivan pull into our driveway - he had an aide, not the one he usually rides with, along. No car seat - so we had to use Thea's old seat that was in the garage.
Thea was up, but not dressed for below freezing temperatures, so she stayed inside -but amidst the car seat drama she had an 'I'm alone in the house and I'm freaked out' drama, so I had to run in wrap her in my long winter coat and carry her back outside to be part of the whole getting Micah ready to roll scene.
And Steve and the aide strapped the seat in, strapped Micah in the seat and off they went. My little three-year old baby and two complete strangers hit the road.
I called the school at 9:10 am and he had arrived safely and seemed happy according to the receptionist.
The van is the one that the district originally proposed. The 'incident' that provoked all the excitment last week resulted in the student involved getting removed from the bus. The driver assures us that the other three are no problem at all - so it looks like Micah will be riding to school next week with the other children going to the program for children with autism.
More later. Suffice it to say I am more than a little pissed that the school district transporation office seems like it is trying to put one over on us. The intent that I got from the driver is that once the 'problem child' is off the bus, then the he feels that it would be fine for Micah to ride with the others. I liked the driver, he has nine years experience and seems like he knows his stuff - I want to to trust him, but I don't trust who he works for. Who is to say that some other child moves into the district with issues similar to the child removed from the bus and we're back to square one?
Micah got off the van today, happy as a clam, all smiles. He serenaded the driver and the aide (a different one this afternoon - she usually does the dispatching) and they both seemed to genuinenly enjoy him. We'll see if that holds up or if they will be dreaming of a van with three non-verbal autistic children and a quiet ride to/from Union County.
I spent part of the day in the observation room watching his sessions with his primary teacher. He managed to behave fairly well, though there were a few times I wanted to reach through the one-way glass to park his butt in his little chair.
After the first session I went out for the much-needed, long overdue coffee and came back. I thought I'd go to the parent group meeting, but there seemed to be a lot of people, and being tired I just wanted to be by myself so I sat in the lobby for a bit. Micah's teacher came through for a few minutes on a break so she chatted about how she thought he was doing.
Summit has early dismissal on the first Wednesday of every month, so instead of having to wait until 2:45 pm to get my baby back, he was tucked into his coat and had his backpack on and was trotted out at 1:45. He was very proud that he took a nap after lunch (I sort of expected he would since he usually crashed quickly after his session with Ela.)
Meanwhile back home, Steve got a call from the school district was told Micah has a driver for Thursday and Friday.
So this morning we had Bob and his minivan pull into our driveway - he had an aide, not the one he usually rides with, along. No car seat - so we had to use Thea's old seat that was in the garage.
Thea was up, but not dressed for below freezing temperatures, so she stayed inside -but amidst the car seat drama she had an 'I'm alone in the house and I'm freaked out' drama, so I had to run in wrap her in my long winter coat and carry her back outside to be part of the whole getting Micah ready to roll scene.
And Steve and the aide strapped the seat in, strapped Micah in the seat and off they went. My little three-year old baby and two complete strangers hit the road.
I called the school at 9:10 am and he had arrived safely and seemed happy according to the receptionist.
The van is the one that the district originally proposed. The 'incident' that provoked all the excitment last week resulted in the student involved getting removed from the bus. The driver assures us that the other three are no problem at all - so it looks like Micah will be riding to school next week with the other children going to the program for children with autism.
More later. Suffice it to say I am more than a little pissed that the school district transporation office seems like it is trying to put one over on us. The intent that I got from the driver is that once the 'problem child' is off the bus, then the he feels that it would be fine for Micah to ride with the others. I liked the driver, he has nine years experience and seems like he knows his stuff - I want to to trust him, but I don't trust who he works for. Who is to say that some other child moves into the district with issues similar to the child removed from the bus and we're back to square one?
Micah got off the van today, happy as a clam, all smiles. He serenaded the driver and the aide (a different one this afternoon - she usually does the dispatching) and they both seemed to genuinenly enjoy him. We'll see if that holds up or if they will be dreaming of a van with three non-verbal autistic children and a quiet ride to/from Union County.
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