Well little man mommy has been holding onto a secret. Only our closest friends have known this, and you have known something is going on but it is a little difficult to explain to you at this time. But, next week we will be leaving for Ohio, for good. This was not an easy decision for me to make for us but I had to put your best interest in mind, look at the whole picture, and decide what was going to be the right move for us not only now but for our future.
I have found a wonderful school for you in Columbus Ohio called Helping Hands Learning Center. This is a private school for children with special needs that is fully based upon the principals of ABA therapy. The golden ticket to this school is that they are a LAMP (language acquisition through motor planning) center for excellence meaning that everyone is trained in device usage and teaching language through a device. This is going to be huge for you, your communication, development, and prospects for the future. In addition, their speech therapy team is trained in PROMPT which is a methodology that has worked extremely well for you from your private therapist. As much as your expressive language grows everyday and we hear new phrases and words, there is still a connection missing for you.
It is as if you have this huge brick wall around you and we have been able to move some of the bricks, here and there, and create "peep holes" for you to see the world and interact in small segments but not enough bricks have been removed for you continue to grow and develop. We need the wall to be taken down, for enough bricks in one area to be removed that you can just walk through and fully show us what you are hiding inside.
There are times I wonder if I am reaching for straws. That you have shown us all that you have to offer, and that I love you for it, and that my focus on your education needs to change, but then you continue to thrive even in the worst educational situations. Even when no one in your current school believes that you can speak, that you are potty trained, or that you thrive off peers (and don't just use them for punching bags) you take another giant leap forward in the home or community with a smile on your face, and you show those of us who you trust that you have so much more to offer.
You have shown us just how resilient you can be and I do not think it is fair for me to ask you to continue to bounce back every time school sets you back 50 feet from their inconsistency, lack of methodology, and not seeing the potential you hold. For this reason, I know Helping Hands is a school where you will thrive, where you will love to learn, and an opportunity to remove those bricks that are standing in your way.
Since this is a private special needs school we will find the balance in the community for your peer interactions on evenings and weekends. At school you will receive group and individual physical, occupational, speech, and music therapy. The school is actually huge into music therapy so I am looking forward to this new outlet for you. I know things will not be perfect, there will be an adjustment period, and that change does not happen overnight. What I also know though is that with consistency, and individuals who want to educate you and see all the potential inside of you, you will blow us away with your ability, strength, and one day with all that you have to say!
Here is looking forward to bright and exciting new future.
Keep on Truckin'
Love you
Mom
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