Friday, June 6, 2014

A great feeling




I have to say time has healed our woundsWhen we started this school year for Hannah, I was hopefully optimistic! I really believed something had to give and things would get better for her. I have to say for the 1st time since she entered the public school system 4 years ago, (age 3) we had an awesome year! You have no idea how good that makes me feel to say!  Hannah's teacher has honestly taken a vested interest in her, she has taken the time to understand how Hannah learns , what works for her and what doesn't. She has taken the time to get to know Hannah, her likes and dislikes, what makes her tick. This is the first year her teach has told me what an awesome ,neat, fun, sweet kid I have. It was so refreshing! It makes me happy, because I know how great she is. Hannah can be a challenge , but what 7 yr old with SPD isn't challenging at times? What 7 year with social and emotional delays isn't challenging from time to time? What typical 7 year old isn't challenging from time to time? As a teach of children with special needs you need to understand these challenges and deal with them the way the child needs you to deal with them. Her teacher has taken the time to figure out how to deal with those challenges!  
Hannah with her teacher and 2 aids

This year we have made a few pretty big "breakthroughs", 1st off Hannah actually started to make friends, she started to let down the wall she build up to protect herself from those who weren't nice to her! She has started to play in a group, instead of alone.  She has leaned there is not longer a need to be aggressive ,There are better way to handle her self beside hitting, kicking,or pinching. She has made such great advances. The 1st grading period of school she had an average 24 aggressive behaviors a week down to about 6.5 by the 2nd grading period. By March of this year she was down to 1.5 per week. This made me so very happy, we are getting close to getting our sweet, mild mannered little girl back!!! Her academics have soared, she is now almost on grade level. Her speech/ language has improved a ton!! There is a new excitement to learn new things and she once again loves school!! I'm looking forward to all the great thing to come for Hannah, I am excited to watch her grow and lean more and more each year. I am so very thankful we have found a place for Hannah, a place that except her for who she is and loves her almost as much as we do!  I am so thankful for all we have gone through (although at times I honestly thought I would lose my mind ) because on the other side there was was hope, encouragement and kindness. We landing in a place that I could have only dreamed of a year ago. We joined a school that honestly care for every student regardless of their ability. We have found a home for the next 4 years and I am so very thankful.