Some helps and school starting

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0079UVRU6?ie=UTF8&at=aw-iphone-pc-us-20&force-full-site=1&ref_=aw_bottom_links a good link for help with grieving

I got to meet the family I whose son I am donating breast milk to he is the cutest little guy. The family is very nice I really like them the mother is a sweet lady who has had child loss. We get each others grief. As I am on this new chapter in my life I find it odd that things like grief can help you form bonds with others that you would not have considered in your old you life. 
I am changing sometimes in odd ways. I am currently oddly attached to blankets. I have one they gave me at the hospital that never touched my baby but it is a nice size and I use it when sitting in the recliner and have used it since I came home. I did not realize I was so attached to it till it went missing two days ago I was a bit worried the first day. The second I was almost frantic to find it I thought one of the kids had used it for school. That second night I dreamed about the blanket for heavens sake so this morning I went on a massive hunt I knew I had to have it. I did find it and felt oddly better still I do find this need oddly disturbing.
I held my new niece today for the first time she was born 2 weeks and 3 days after my Tianna. I thought it would upset me to hold her so was a bit nervous. It did not really upset me it did however make me long to hold Tianna and set off that need that I am not doing something I should be again. This need does hit me at other times it is not bad just strange. I guess I will probably always have that but hopefully it will lessen a bit. Still at least I know I can hold babies and not want to steal them hahaha(well no more then usual who does not love babies?)

I went to see my Tiannas grave for the first time Tuesday after horse lessons I had my son, my second daughter and my youngest with me. I tried to explain where Tianna was but my youngest did not get it she wanted me to get Tianna out of the ground it made me want to cry she was so upset. 

I forgot to mention school started for my husband and son. My daughters have been in school for two weeks already and my oldest and third girls have tried out to be in a play. The girls are doing good other then my oldest was in seminary and they showed a film which would have been ok except at the end they had a family gathered around a baby/child grave. Set her on panic mode the rest of the day. My husband is in a brand new Charter school teaching 5th grade the school specializes in Autism spectrum students. Needless to say the first week has been interesting but he loves it. My son does not like school anymore now then he did at the end of last year SIGH! We are hoping he adjusts a bit more since the school specializes in ASD. My oldest has been driving the kids and hubby to schools she is awesome. I did have massive anxiety about letting her they say its due to loosing a baby it makes you more anxious about the others. She makes quite the trip she drives daddy and her brother to one city north then drives 4 cities south picks up the sister that has been staying with my mom and takes them all to school.
I have a daughter staying with my mom as she suffers from arrhythmia where her heart speeds and slows for long periods of the day especially when she gets stressed. She only needs a little help and I found I could not do it with the baby coming and cant currently. So a good solution has been I have had one of my older 4 daughters down there to help her all summer. Currently I have one daughter staying each week they help her do her laundry, keep her company when my dad is gone, take care of dogs and make sure she eats. This has been a big relief from my worries my girls are so awesome I know this has been a challenge for them as my mom can get panicy when she is experiencing these arrhythmia. 

An IEP

Had my oldest (16) iep today she is very smart and gifted. They did not really find a specific learning disability which is what she has always qualified for under english but she has learned how to adapt to this so it came out high this time for the first time since 6th grade she matches her IQ and other learning with ability. This was great I was glad we had pushed the Asperger testing last year as that is now what they qualified her for( well ASD) since her grades are not showing the same results as the tests. Her anxiety and depression has kicked into high gear from her aspergers and her disability that she normally has is still there a bit. Her written expression was the only thing on age level. The rest are clear into 21 years plus but most into her 30's. I wish I could help her get past her issues and tap that potential but alas you cant push to much or they stress. However she gets more even every year so maybe one day she will be able to tap into all that brain power and use it to the max :)
I guess the point of this blurb is I am glad she is getting better on the test but I currently feel guilty that I had not a clue that she had aspergers. I wonder if I had pushed and got her help earlier if we could have limited the impact it is having on her schooling and emotional life.
 Am I the only one who feels this way? I knew she was gifted from the age of like 3 but also knew at about 2nd grade that something was not clicking for her. I guess its always the hardest with the oldest they tend to be the guinea pig so to speak.

Kindergarten issues with Autism

Well my son is adjusting better but has had to be switched to a different schedule then another child due to personality issues. He is having good success in this split school model where he spends first half of the day in Sped and second half in half day kindergarten. He loves math and art along with his teachers. We still can not get him to potty train but have not had a stinky accident in 4 weeks yeah!!! His faithful sister goes every day to take him to the bathroom and make him change his pants if he is to wet bless her caring soul.

The challenges of starting kindergarten with Autism

Well big surprise school started off crazy. My son was registered for all day kindergarten as I decided I did not want to have to travel to and from the school so much. I also did not want him to be half day and try to squeeze all his ot, social, and other sped services. He already struggles to learn how will he keep up if he misses half the stuff. Well big surprise he did not do so well going all day in the regular classroom so we decided to try him half day kindergarten and half day self contained where he can get all his sped services. This seems to be working for him as he melts down by lunch other then he bit a kid the other day not a real bite just a nibble really lol. When I asked him why he said he was looking at me and blocking the slide. Sigh! do kids just have this homing beacon for kids that are different and pick on them? I volunteered to drive for the senses field trip for my sons class. It was fun the teacher only assigned me my son and another sped boy he is a lot like my son she was worried to do so but I told her I was used to them so it would work fine.

LOL I always wished my son had a twin as then he would have a friend I am not so sure now they were fun to watch and played well till they did not want to do the same thing. Then you have a problem as one goes one way and one goes the other they do not listen well so if one wanders off you cant leave the other as they are not like other kids you never know what they are going to do. So you have to get the one and chase the other and quickly!

It reminded me of when my third daughter was 3 and my second was 5 she would just wander away with whatever had her attention. so I would have to uproot the 3 year old to chase the 5 year old and try to carry the baby. It was quite the challenge many mothers do not understand why I do not take my kids places much well there are several reasons: I have back issues, they tend to melt down, they don't listen well so it makes it difficult to divide yourself to get in each child's face to make sure they understood you.

Well back to kindergarten, my son is really good at math big surprise. However you have to read everything to him. He struggles to stay on the same task for very long. He works better if he has a fidget and a reward that is tangible he does not seem to get implied rewards. He can not handle the noise of the lunchroom. For fidgets he likes those party size playdough and those little balls with spaghetti strips coming off in center like these http://www.orientaltrading.com/halloween-porcupine-balls-a2-25_3355.fltr?prodCatId=551312 my oldest likes a good old stress ball or a worm like this http://www.orientaltrading.com/magic-worms-a2-16_1212.fltr I like these cause none of them are to expensive to replace if lost or ruined :)

Aspergirls

Well shortly after my sons testing the special ed teacher for my second daughter approached me she is 12 and asked if I had her behavior tested. I said for what exactly as she had been tested and they told me the same thing they have told me since she was 5 years old SHE IS FINE! Your just worried because she is normal and your oldest is gifted. Sign! I should have been more forceful I knew from a young age she had some problems but hey live and learn.

Well the special ed lady says well she does not make eye contact I said so she has always been that way that is just her. She gave me this look like I should know better which really I should as I do work with special needs kids but they are really profound so a mild case like my daughter is harder to spot. Then she says well when I try to get her to discuss what problems she is having with math she seems to ignore me for a couple minutes then she might respond or she might not. I said well yeah she has always done that she just takes a bit to gather her thoughts. She asked if I would be ok if they tested her for behavior issues I said fine. So she sends me to go get the screenings she wants to try and WOW big surprise she has me pick up ASQ and GARS and a couple others. I had never filled either of these questionnaires out before. As I am filling them out I realize they are for Autism or Atypical behaviors and OMG!

My second daughter had not smiled before like age 5 much and even then usually her expressions do not match the situation. If I could have used one word to describe my daughter 2 it would be grumpy even from a super young age. She had and still does have weird OCD things she at the age of 2 had played with her belly button so much she could pull it off her stomach. She then moved to biting she was always biting her sister and nothing seemed to help stop her. She sucked her clothes till they were misshapen and sucked her hair. She at the age of about 6 became obsessed with hugs she constantly wanted to hug which she never had really wanted before and frequently shoved people away when they wanted one. It reached the point where I had to limit her to 2 hugs per person per day and only if she asked for one, if someone else instigated it that did not count. Then she moved to chewing her fingernails which was ok till about 11 years old when she chewed the whole nail off down to the cuticle it was bad surprised it did not bleed.

I realized as I filled these out that there was a high probability that I now had another child on the spectrum. I also realized my oldest daughter fit alot of the asperger signs I was shocked she is 15 how could I have missed that I guess I always assumed erroneously that they were like rainman. I approached the special ed department and asked to have my oldest tested as well. Well the Psychologist on retainer for the school observed my daughters and went over the questionnaires she then had me read a couple books before our meeting she said they might help me decide if I think these really describe my daughters. I was amazed at how two girls who seemed very different could really have the same condition.

After reading the books I was convinced that after years of searching we might have discovered why my oldest with an almost genius IQ struggled to pass english mostly due to reading, she does not picture what she reads. My second I finally knew what she needed and why she seems fine one minute and looses it the next. They were probably both aspergirls I was in shock. Well we met with the psychologist and she agreed that they most likely are aspies in the 90% probability range. Why does it take 15 and 12 years to get a diagnoses or even be pointed in the right direction? I had my daughters tested multiple times and yet no one ever mentioned they might have a condition. I guess it happens but I had hoped we had come farther in the last 30 years.

Our monthly special for March

On Sale This Month

Easter Sets

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6234 Bugs Save St. Patrick’s Day
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IF YOU are interested in ordering any of these items at this price just post a comment with your email in this format so programs cant steal it

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Teaching Styles and Special Needs

Student with special needs require a more specialized teaching style then other students. These students will not thrive in a classroom where they are expected to sit quiet as mice and never speak out of turn. These students thrive better in classrooms that are more upbeat and allow some spontaneous discussion or input. The more senses you can use in your lessons the more your students will learn. You also have more students who understand the material being taught which leads to better test scores.
For example when teaching about chemical reactions make ice cream in a bag or goo students really love this stuff and will have a great time making it. While they are making ice cream or goo help them see what the different components do to react to each other. Then follow up with a worksheet with questions they need to answer about what they think happened. Another really great lesson I like to use for matter or compounds is to give a cooking lesson. I make cookies or a stir fry something that mixes ingredients to make something else. Before making the items I go over the measuring tools and how to convert different amounts if I am missing the specific size measuring tool this brings in a math lesson. I also have the students write or tell what they think the different ingredients do when combined. The students really get into this as they help put in or mix the ingredients, the smells and interactions really help them remember things you say to them or explain while doing the lesson.
Small focused group work is a great tool with students with special needs as long as the teacher spends time with each group or the most focused need group. Centers are a great way to implement this or you could do whole group instruction and get the main set of students going. Then bring a small group of students who need more individualized instruction back to a table to work with the teacher or aide.