Earlier this month I met with John's AzEIP advocate (Amy W) and the Peoria Schools representative, Mary Ellen. Mary Ellen asked me about John (how does he sleep? when did he start walking? does he like other children? plus 1000 similar questions). Then she said, "Is there anything else I should know about John?"
My first reaction to those kind of questions is always "no." Maybe it's because of the oh-so-helpful salesmen and customer service representatives who never fail to say "is there anything else I can do for you today?" I digress. Anyway, I bit my tongue and actually thought about it.
Is there anything else Peoria needs to know about my John?Yes. "He's sensitive."
"What do you mean...sensitive??"
"Well, he's in tune with people; he watches his surroundings; he has a definite routine that he likes to keep to...but more than that, he's sensitive to his senses."
"He doesn't like grass?"
"He didn't used to. In fact, we have a picture of him doing a push-up when he was just eight months old because he wanted to get away from the grass. He used to hate sand. He doesn't like the wind, or rain, or snow."
"And he hates getting his hair cut."
How did she know??
"Yes, he hates having his hair cut. It's torture."
"I see." [I don't think you can evaluate people for a living and not say "I see" at least three times an hour.]
So when we go back in July for John's preschool qualification visit, we'll see a speech therapist, psychologist, and school representative, and an occupational therapist. Who knew a healthy, smart two-year-old could see so many -ists? I don't think John has Sensory Integration Disorder or anything else scary like that, but I am grateful we can have a few professionals' opinions on how to help John get the words out of his head and into our ears. Maybe the sensory issue is part of the puzzle. We'll see.
Meanwhile, we are getting VERY excited for preschool (beginning August 11). John loved the developmental preschool we visited. He cried all the way to the car (quite a walk!) when it was time to go. He is going to thrive in that setting. We were encouraged to see all the play time and the positive peer interactions going on in the preschool.
When we first walked into the preschool, the kids were taking turns standing at the front of the classroom to be greeted by their classmates. They called back and forth: "Hi Sam!" "Hi!" / "Hi Cadence!" "Hi!" I had to swallow back my tears, thinking about John calling out to his friends with a voice I haven't heard much of: "Hi Emma!" "Hi Carlos" and then thinking of all his friends calling back "Hi John!"
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