When Time Is An Illusion

 "After Work", Doubly So

It's 7:00 PM. A full day of school for James, work for me. Then we had a home ABA session for 3 hours (yay!). After this I scarfed down dinner and hopped on to Zoom. I cannot diss Zoom. It's changed the game for me. I can now attend meetings I had to miss before (no time to drive or respite for James), doctor appointments (for my family, without using all my hard-earned PTO - recently, I can start scheduling care for ME), Tonight it's a presentation on IEPs. 

That's right. The lady with 14 years of IEP experience is watching an online presentation on the thing that is the partial cause of silvering tresses and sleepless nights. Because, hey - it's not like I was able to do this before. Who knows? I could learn something.

We are 15 minutes in and already bad flashbacks to 3 years ago But hey, then I feel better that my responses were warranted and that, eventually, James' legal right to access services were upheld. 

This is a very good program. There are parents and professionals online from all over the Bay Area and as far away as Fresno! I am so glad these are happening - I wish I had been able to attend a session like this when I was just starting out (although several teachers and administrators were very helpful).

Big shout out to the language - from the alphabet soup of acronyms to understanding nuances between "appropriate" and "best".  Great job discussing functional needs and related services. "Least restrictive environment" - always a goodie. Transitional IEPs - just when you think you've got it, a twist. 

And I did learn new things - ESY (extended school year) is any time outside of regular, scheduled school hours (in other words, it's not just summer school/session - it can cover weekends, breaks, or after school, if the district has resources for that). And schools have 10 days to come up with a response to continue services within 10 days of an emergency condition (of which we've had several over the past few years).

If you want more information, I highly recommend contacting the agencies who coordinated and put on this event:         

         

It's close to 8:30 and is my day over? Not really. I am James' caregiver, and he is testing the doors when he should be doing his bedtime routine. I will remain on duty until he's safely in bed. And then sleep light.