Appointments, part 2!

Yep, December is the month of Christmas, family, and appointments for Roo. We kicked it off Friday with his annual cardiology check-up, and yesterday we followed it up with our first meeting with the school district.

No, time hasn't gone that fast. Roo isn't ready for kindergarten just yet. :-) But here's how it works (at least in the state of Ohio): from birth to age 3, children with disabilities get services through the county, typically through the Board of Developmental Disabilities. This is called Early Intervention. In our county, Roo received home-based services--the therapists and Early Intervention Specialist came to our house for all of his appointments--until age 2. (We actually pushed it a few months past that.) Then this fall he started attending a toddler class at the county DD school, which is going splendidly. (I have been planning an update on that one for a while. I'll get there...!)

But once he turns 3, his services fall under the purview of our local public school system. It is actually still administered by the county until he's in kindergarten, but it is within the schools... yeah, it's a little less than crystal clear. But a transition will take place at age 3, and 90 days prior to his third birthday, we need to start meeting to plan that transition. And since the 90-day mark happens during Christmas break, we had to schedule it a little early.

So yesterday morning we met with our Service Coordinator (She is with the Department of Jobs & Family Services, and she helps to keep track of Joey's various services and medical records. She is also our Help Me Grow provider, a program that I did with both Lamb and Monkey, so I have known her for seven years, and I ADORE her. I am SO INCREDIBLY SAD that we will not be working with her, I'm tempted to have another baby so that we can do Help Me Grow with Becki again. :-) ), the Director of Special Services for our school system, and psychologist who works for the county.

The goal of this particular meeting was not so much to set goals or create his plan. This was more of an introductory meeting, where they talked to us a little about the process, and they asked us a lot of questions about Roo. The ladies were very nice, and I know one of the therapists he will be working with, so I feel really good about how it all went.

So, similarly to the cardiology appointment, I don't feel like I have a big update, but I DO feel like it was a positive outcome.

One thing we DID discuss, though: Technically he is supposed to switch from his current school to the county-run preschool (located in our elementary school) right at his third birthday. But in general, students who turn three after Spring Break are able to stay at the DD school for the remainder of the school year, then move to the county preschool in the fall. Well... Roo's birthday is DURING Spring Break. So we are really hoping to keep him where he is until fall, but we have to wait to hear from the director of the DD school about whether or not she is able to keep him there.

So that was our meeting in a nutshell! We'll go back in a month to schedule his evaluations with his new therapists, then we'll meet again in February to actually go over his evaluations and set his goals. 

Two appointments down! Next up, dermatology.