Challenges Part III

For the last 2 years I have had this verse on my refrigerator. 

Philippians 4:6-7

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

 

This last week I really need to remember this.  We had 2 separate meetings this week with Austin's school, the first one on Thursday was with his principal and the district's special services coordinator.  The main objective of this meeting was to address the incident of Austin leaving school campus a couple of weeks ago as well as letting them both know that we are willing to go to due process if necessary, because what Austin needs from school they do not have.  We let them know that under no circumstances were they to let him leave and walk home again.  It is not safe.  The principal mentioned wondering if part of Austin's issues were separation anxiety related with me, because he always asks for his Mommy when he is upset.  He has never had any other 13 year old ask for their Mommy.  I agreed that it is unusual but his therapists didn't think that it is anything other than the fact that I get it when no one else does... I know he needs deep pressure to shut the lights off and to give him a few minutes of silence.  Inside I was thinking to myself that I thank God that Austin does call me Mommy sometimes and that he does need big hugs from me that these are the gifts that his special needs give me.  It makes the difficult moments a little easier to get through.  And we ending the meeting with them agreeing to send a district rep to our meeting on Friday with Austin's IEP team.  

Friday's meeting started with a review of Austin's re-evaluation and which held no real surprises.  He has Asperger's, Anxiety Disorder, ADHD and learning difficulties.  Our advocate says basically Austin is a perfect storm because he has so much going on and that you can not address his needs with amateur hour fixes.  Finally I decided it was time for me to speak.  This is what I said to the team.  At some point as a team you need to decide that you have tried your hardest, given your best and yet Austin needs more.  If you think that for us as parents having Austin placed in another school is an easy decision please know that it is not.  In order for us to come to this point we as parents had to let go of many of the dreams we had for our son.  We had to realize that as much as we want him here, it is not what is best for him and that it isn't okay to have a child telling you he is useless or that he doesn't deserve to be here on earth.  We need to put his needs first and move on. They asked what he needed that they didn't have there... He needs a therapeutic setting in a school that offers smaller classes, OT sensory input, and much more.  He needs somewhere to go when he has a meltdown that is soothing and safe, not an office with desks, chairs, bikes and more in it.  He needs all of the staff that he is around to be trained extensively with kids like him, not just a four hour workshop.  I think we finally got through to them, it was a long 2 hours.  We have to meet again within 30 days and before then they are to have investigated other placement options.  For the first time I feel optimistic about the outcome of an IEP meeting.  We are hoping that this is a first step to getting Austin healthier and happier.

I am always drained emotionally and physically after these meetings but we had a great weekend which included going to church this morning where our message given by our Pastor was on the verse that I shared in the beginning of this post.  I don't think that is a coincidence.  God works in mysterious ways.

We are closer to having our Raffle Fundraiser ready to go so our next post will be all about that I am sure.  Thank you so much for all of your positive thoughts and prayers...they are appreciated!