eSpecially Ben

Ben saw the eye doctor for his annual visit last week, a change since last year when he was given a clean bill of health. His strabimus, or lazy eye, is much better now and he does not need to be seen quarterly. The doctor did mention that when Ben looks all the way to the left or right, his eyes jump, perhaps making objects to his far right or left blurry. Combined with this information the new speech therapist gave us a week ago - Ben does much better with picture cards that are in a vertical line rather than a horizontal line. Putting these two pieces of information together help teachers and therapists working with Ben develop strategies to enhance his education. A word of caution for those of you have not experienced the eye doctor visit when eye dilation is involved...it can be a two to three hour long visit. Bring whatever survival items you need to get through it - food, toys, DVD player and Valium for yourself in severe cases. I had Sean and Logan with me and luckily the

Ben and Logan had their first day of school today. Sean starts on Thursday for staggered entry for Pre-K students. Ben's bus was too late for us to wait for it, so after 50 minutes of waiting impatiently, I drove him to school. It was so easy, it made me think about making that one mile drive each day. This year, I am trying out a new plan. I will pick Ben up from school at 3:15pm every day to give him  time to eat and use the bathroom before therapy. In years past, it has been a mad rush to get everything done and if the bus was late, it was stressful. Logan and Sean need to be picked up at the same time Ben is "supposed" to get off the bus. By doing it this way, Ben will get to walk with me to Logan and Sean's school to pick them up. I think he will enjoy being a part of this ritual. Hope all goes well for your first days of school!

During a conversation with another parent yesterday about the best way to work with the teachers and principal at Ben's school, she said that she was ready to "do battle." I was glad we were talking on the phone because she could not see my reaction to her declaration. I vehemently disagree with this method of advocating for your child. Using a fighting mentality to get what you want for your child may only get you a reputation for being a difficult parent, that could potentially follow you around from school to school and agency to agency. (The special education/exceptional child field is small.) The results may be that your child's needs are never met. Here are a few ideas that came to mind as I thought about this situation with this mom and how she discussed her relationship with the school and the roadblocks she encountered. Hopefully, you may be able to put a few of these to good use: Be an advocate. When I looked up the definition for "advocate" a