Additional Needs

First Day Jitters

Posted by Brittney Baumgartner on 10th July 2018 Additional Needs, Disabilities

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For those of you who have followed our journey, I have some exciting yet nerve wrecking news.:

Oliver starts school in August!!

Sure, it is only nerve wrecking for his father and I, but exciting nonetheless!

We had gone through an evaluation for PPCD (Pre Preschool for Children with Disabilities) sometime around April of 2017, but were denied any services due to Oliver not being cognitively delayed.

It sure did not sound like the right response, so I finally got on call with everyone for a second in-person evaluation.

Oliver does have some delays, but most are due to physical reasons (ex: not walking), so it is sometimes hard to see that he should have some extra support mentally as well.

To my surprise, after the evaluation, we were offered a program for him!

It is much like a regular school pre-k, and in fact does take place at the elementary right by our house.

I met with the principle, his teacher and coordinator to discuss a program implemented by them for physical concerns (teaching staff how to Cath Oliver, food aversions, etc) as well as discuss goals we had for Oliver cognitively.

It is so exciting to see the school working with me to make sure Oliver’s first year at school flows smoothly.

I am one nervous momma, and I am not sure he knows entirely how school “works” like me having to leave him, but he is excited to make friends!

This boy has blossomed with me homeschooling him up to his four years of age, and I can only imagine how much further he can go with this program.

One thing this has opened the door for, is me being able to get back to work in the real world.

For almost two years, after an almost 3 year hiatus, I have been working from home.

This has been a blessing, sometimes in disguise, allowing me to spend all the time I can not only with Oliver but my two other children as well.

Getting back into full time work outside of the house has this mommy with first day jitters too!

Hopefully we can both adjust nicely and it should only provide more love and hugs when we return home to each other at the end of the day.

Do you remember your child’s first day at a school?

I would love to hear about it, in the comment section below!

Oliver is set to start late August, and he will be a full-time wheelchair user at that time.

Our biggest fear is him being able to adapt to the surroundings, being independent, and of course other children being kind to him.

Any positive words would be very much appreciated!