Preschool

We had our 2nd appointment today with the school district and Joshua did qualify for the special education (Child Find) preschool program.  He will be starting on June 1st at Wildwood Elementary, which means he will only get two weeks in this year, but at least we can get him started.  They qualified him in speech/communication, gross motor skills (PT), fine motor skills (OT) and learning/cognition. 

The teachers said that some of the tests were inconclusive because he had such poor focus and little attention span, but they qualified him so he would be guaranteed to get the services.  They suggested that one of his goals be to work on his focus and "staying on task" because it is not where it should be.  We are not sure if it is his disorder or the meds (or both) causing the issue, but either way it is impacting him.  This also matches what the neuro psychologist said as he had a hard time getting Joshua to focus and work on a particular task. 

We have to do the following prior to June 1st so that he can attend:

1) Register him at the school, which includes filling out a bunch of paperwork, bringing in his birth certificate, etc.

2) Get his shots up to date (he is missing his chicken pox shot because our pediatrician has been out of it the last few times we have been in to get it)

3) Have Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting with his teacher, school nurse and therapists for the disciplines listed above.  In this meeting we will all agree on his goals for them to work with him on during preschool. 

4) Have neurologist sign off on paperwork for his emergency rescue medicine Diastat in case it has to be administered at school.

5) Fill out medical action plan and then meet with school nurse to review and finalize so we have an action plan on file for his seizures and medications.

6) Fill out paperwork regarding his diet restrictions so they know they cannot give him any food or drinks at school. 

We got him into a morning class which we were excited about because he has to have his nap (or he has more seizures) and he is just not as attentive in the afternoons as he gets tired very easily.  They worked with us to get him into a morning class.  They also put him in a school with a nurse on staff every day (due to his medical needs) so that helped alleviate some of my fears.  They also told me that they have other kids with epilepsy who also have rescue meds at that school and the teacher is familiar with it so that should help.  I'm sure I will have to educate her on Doose Syndrome and his specific type of seizures, but it's a great start. 

Overall, I am glad he got in so he can get the help he needs, but just sad that he needs the services in the first place. 

Michelle