Round 1....

Excuse me while I spill....it may not be grammatically correct but I am mad and I need to vent!

Well it began. The battle to get Brycen the education he deserves. The education in a main stream classroom, in a mainstream school, that he won't be able to maintain forever. The place where I would like to keep him until 8th grade. The school that I love. The school that I vowed to stay at when all of this came to a head in 2005....the year we were supposed to move to NH so I could be closer to my family. The school that has always welcomed us with open arms made me feel like my back was against a wall today. I am not a nice person when I feel backed into a corner.

I hate this. I hate being this person. The demanding, mean, "I don't care what your budget states, you have to do what's best for MY child" person. I hate it. I hate all of it. I am not this person....ok, yes, I am the protective mama bear but I hate when I have to be mean. I am not a mean person by nature. I am not a bitch by nature (bite your tongue dad....ray!!! ;) )

I was a bitch today and I left the principal speechless. It was actually a priceless moment in my book. One of those moments where you know that you made your point so loud and clear that the person doesn't even know what to say. They look at you with that blank face and without a word get up and walk away. Yes, that moment. It was a good moment, if only brief.

I don't want people to patronize me by telling me they know my child when they have only seen him in passing and they only "know" him by what they read on a piece of paper. That isn't my child. My child is the one with a zest for life but he is also the kid in the corner with the major anxiety. My child is so happy on the outside but torn up on the inside be he can't write. He is the one with numerous friends but the one that can't get an honest thought onto a piece of paper, yet his mind is busting with all the knowledge it contains. My child is the child will give 110% to please you but the one that struggles so badly that he can't even read what he wrote down an hour ago because he never spells the same word, the same way twice. I don't want to hear that they have to cut his services because they don't have the coverage. That's not my problem. That is theirs and they better figure it out quickly because my patience are running really thin.

I don't want to hear that they can cut his services because "we never give those kinds of minutes to a 6th grader".....um....please explain to me how this changed in 6 weeks at home, swimming all summer. Did he somehow learn to write and spell and do math all on his own in 6 very short weeks?? Without our knowledge? Just because he's in 6th grade makes his needs less than if it were 6 weeks ago and he was still a 5th grader?

AAARRRGH! I just want to yell. I am so frustrated!! I have so much on my plate and he is dealing with so many new changes at school. I can only deal with one thing at a time and I am not signing anything that I am not comfortable with. He is MY child and I will do right by him if it's the last thing I do.

But.................on a good note (we need some cheery after that! )

Brycen is getting Assitive Technology!!!!! I have to tell you this is the coolest thing ever!!! He is getting a computer that is going to go on voice recognition. That's right! They are going to bring a computer in that types on Brycen's voice command. If Brycen says: "The black cat sat on the fence." The computer is going to type out : "The black cat sat on the fence"!!! How cool is that? I think it's just amazing. I love technology. It's a really cool program and the scientists over at Tufts University have be trying to perfect it for years!

What's even better is the woman that teaches this is awesome! She gets Brycen. She really does. I was blown away at how well she got to know him in the short time that she was with him and what's even better....she didn't go by a piece of paper. she looked right at me and said "tell me about him, I want to know him through you not paper" I've only had one other teacher do that with him and it was his K/1 teacher who is so near and dear to my heart even to this day. She was truly amazing with him and she still is! :). The AT teacher is a huge fan of music and Alpacas! So is Brycen. She is also a speech therapist and a music instructor. She has so many good ideas on how to get all that knowledge out of Brycen and she is willing to try all kinds of unconventional methods. She is so down to earth and she makes you feel so comfortable. I think they are going to be a perfect match.

So I rejected a lot today. We are going off of last years education plan and I only agreed to the ammendment for Assistive Tech...oh and NO SPANISH! Can you believe they wanted him to take Spanish 3 days a week for 45 minutes a day??? He can't even write english! Ugh!

So it's the 5th day of school and Round 1 is over. Round 2 comes Oct. 21st. Let's pray they heard what I had to say.