noodles and butter

We had noodles and butter for dinner last night. Brecken got to choose. Here's why:

We had his annual IEP meeting after school yesterday. His teachers are so proud of him! He has gained a ton of confidence, he's not afraid to answer a question, give ideas, or play with kids. He's not not-finishing his work now, he's now getting it all done and does it quickly (but correctly), too. He's at his age level or ahead for academic skills. They said the only times he really prefers to play with the adults is at recess when he's wanting to play sports, and they are sure it's because the other kids don't have near the sport skills he does, so he doesn't want to play with them... they don't give him a challenge the teachers do. :) He is now one of the class leaders instead of a non-participant. SO glad to hear this.

He would test out of the speech part of his IEP because his goals have been met, but he can't receive OT services as a stand-alone Dx, so she's keeping him on speech with a little teeny goal. OT is going to keep working with him on fine motor skills like snapping and buttoning and holding his pencil right and hand strength, because it's kinda puny. His sensory goals have pretty much been met in the academic setting... they said he is doing EXCELLENT at being able to use the strategies the OT taught him to be able to better handle all the sensory stimuli. Home and other settings are another story but he's getting SO much better at learning how to handle them. (and really, I'd rather have him be able to hold it together at school than at home!) The things we are doing at home are just what we need to be doing and we'll continue to see improvement!

The OT told us something that we already knew but other people have trouble understanding. She said his SPD is something he will always have, it's not something you grow out of, you just learn how to handle it. Which he does... 9 times out of 10 now, he'll ask for his headphones instead of having a meltdown. So that's good! He will not "grow out of" this... he will always have it. It may come to where it isn't an issue anymore, because he has learned to deal with it completely, but he will still have it.

They are aware of his clothing issues and will work more on that... and they know about his bedtime stuff (and not sleeping in his room) and they said what we are doing is spot on and he'll get there eventually. It has to be done on his own time otherwise it won't happen because pushing him will make him regress. So that was nice to hear that we are doing things right. :) His OT did say that she uses him (without his name) in examples of what brushing can do for kids with SPD. I'm glad it works. :) He is NOT being brushed at school anymore and he's been fine. Yay! (Though she suggested we keep doing it at night and before new things, like we have been.) They assured me that we are right in being able to tell the difference between being naughty and having a sensory meltdown. There IS a difference and we are getting to be pros at knowing the difference. :) I kind of feel bad for others who don't see him all the time, because I'm sure it looks like he's the biggest brat. He's not, I promise. You can ask our OT if you don't believe me.

He will be re-tested in the spring to see what we need to do for the transition to Kindergarten.

So we told him we were very proud of him and let him pick dinner. So we had noodles and butter and sprinkle cheese. :)

(and just for comparison on how he was last year at this meeting... click here. It's quite a change!)