Day Two!

 October 2, 2021

We spent the year at home. We had talks of returning to school after the Thanksgiving break. Though some schools in our area went back, ours didn't. And it wasn't too bad, we weren't exactly on board with a return to the classroom, and it had little to do with COVID. Bradley's teacher decided to retire; because can we really blame her? But that left us with one more year at the Elementary school with a brand new teacher who seemed really nice; and probably was great, but that is so hard to send over a Zoom session to a little boy that is only interested in the kind of electronics he can control. 

Our first class session was pretty good, Bradley was interested and paid attention. after a five minute introduction we signed off and he went about his day. Imagine his concern when I made him sit down the next day, and it was longer than five minutes. He just kept looking at me as if asking me, "Why does she just keep talking? And when can I be done with this?"  

The Feelings - for Bradley he was always cranky, angry cactus...

Well, we couldn't be done, and we had to keep coming back - three times each class day. We usually chose one session to attend successfully and conceded the other two; way too much to ask! But given his attention lent to how many tokens it took to get a popsicle or a cookie...we knew there was definitely a compromise and a different way forward to be found for him. So we decided to stick with Plan A. 

Three mornings a week he did Occupational Therapy, Feeding Therapy and Speech for ninety minutes. Then in the afternoons, he had Behavior Therapy four days a week. We were starting to see him blossom with his morning therapies, so we decided that he was getting so much more from them then he was getting from any of his Zoom sessions at school - so we decided that we would fit Zoom around that schedule.

It worked well for Bradley. He only went on Zoom on Tuesdays for class. Then two days a week he would have individual sessions with a Speech therapist and an Occupational therapist from the school District. He hated the Zoom part; but he liked them, and he would work for them. So that was how our year went. 

The school brought the kids back to his class right after Spring Break. 

We were so divided on what to do. We were considering sending him back to school but in our area, our kids start middle school at 6th grade. Rather than send him back to his elementary school to get used to a new teacher and a new classroom for five weeks; we decided to keep him home and when he went back to school it would be a completely new school, teacher, and routine. What can I say, we really just wanted to isolate all the negative behaviors associated with the changes in one space of time.  We really didn't want to do that routine twice. So when Bradley finished the school year, he said good-bye to his elementary school and after summer he started at the Middle school. 

We've been in school for a little over a month now. The first week we had a tiny class of five kids, but then they combined his class with the another class and now there is one teacher for a class of nine kids. So all that work breaking in a new teacher was for nothing - and then we had to break in a new teacher all over again. Sigh! 

But Bradley gets to ride the bus every morning, which is his favorite thing. And then he gets to ride it home three days a week, the other two I pick him up early and take him to therapy. He is picking up more words and he is starting to really develop his personality and his preferences with intention. He has always known what he wants and what he doesn't want, but we have seen an increase in more targeted requests as he tries to understand the world around him and make his choices known. It is not always a quiet request, or an easy request, but that's okay. Any time he is giving us his feedback and helping us to understand and fill his needs, then we are closer and closer to helping him more fully communicate.  

We're getting there Bradley! You don't give up and we won't either.  There is a whole world out there that we are going to help you enter and navigate successfully, we just have to work hard, be patient and never quit trying! 

Until tomorrow! Happy Saturday Friends! 

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