Liam's New School

Liam and me at the local zoo this past weekend. He was more interested in the animals than looking at the camera.

We haven't had Liam's IFSP yet, but all of his testing is done. Before we moved here, we learned about a school in our area. I did a little research into our options and agreed that the site closest to us would be a good place to send him to, but wanted to be sure we checked it out first. It's the same place CJ went to get his testing and educational recommendations, which our school district will be honoring and implementing.

When we visited, we spoke with the director and asked lots of questions. There are some things about it I'm not 100% sure about, but nothing that counts as a deal breaker for us. The school is oral only, and I believe in signing with all my children. They assured me that we could still sign with him, but not at school. That seems fair enough.

Liam will be receiving a lot of amazing services at the school. They are:

*all audiology services until three years of age including aids, testing, ear molds, critter clips, etc.

*seeing his own audiologist at the center 90 minutes a month

*one on one instruction with an educator of the Deaf

*a teacher to follow him around making sure his hearing aids stay in (a HUGE problem for us)

*speech services

*auditory training

*possible continuing services at the same school when he turns three paid for by our school district if it's deemed necessary for him (which it more than likely will be)

We'll be starting out with him going just two mornings a week and then move up to three mornings a week as soon as he's ready and shows compliance. I'm hoping that's before Christmas. I really believe this will be the best thing for him.

It's so vastly different from the way we did ECI in Texas. We were so happy there, and I was pleased with the progress he was making in most areas. Making the decision to do things this way once we got here was a hard one, but I think will have the most positive outcome. He'll still be having some services at home through the state early intervention program. He'll have an OT that comes to work on his oral sensory issues, a speech teacher, a teacher of the Deaf to teach him sign language, and a dietician to follow his eating habits. All in all, a very good plan for him...I think.