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Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Golf Season is over...
And now it is offically fall. We'll be posting some pics of the boys playing in the leaves. That's right, Leaves are falling and it's peak leaf peeping season! We brought the boys to the apple orchard to pick some apples and go on a hay ride. They had a great time feeding the animals in the petting zoo. Matthew even got to take a horse ride there. We're so glad that he has no interest in horseback riding. He doesnt have the attention span to pay attention on the horse.
The boys each had their yearly trips to the pumpkin patch and apple orchards for their class field trips. Andrew's was today and Matthew's was last Friday. They got to pick out their own pumpkins, make apple cider and taste cider donuts. Again they took a hay ride and went to the petting zoo.
Matthew is doing so well at preschool and really enjoys writing. He also loves to do his "art stuff" and thinks he's an architect! So cute. He's been a little off beat lately missing Andrew at school. He can't wait to ride the bus to Kindergarten next year with Andrew. He's sad that He can't ride the bus now. They get to see each other after Andrew gets off the bus for Afterschool care where Matthew goes to preschool and daycare, so that makes him happy. And of course he is still such a ladies man. He's got his little girlfriends that he hugs and kisses before leaving each day. It's really cute. Soon he'll be saying they have cooties, so we'll smile while we can. Then it will be onto real girlfriends and we're not looking forward to that.
Andrew's doing really well in school. We're having a really hard time with the school coordinating his services. This year he has a shared aide and gets the usual OT, PT and speech. The school dropped the ball on him having an aide on the bus, but thankfully he's adjusted to riding the bus without one. His PT is a HUGE issue since he relys on that Physically Therapy to keep him walking. He had a major regression because of the lapse of service of PT. We've been fighting with the school to keep up on it and seems that there are some scheduling problems. We've called a team meeting and have a regular schedule sent to us from the school so that we can check up on them. Hopefully we will not have to resort to going to the State Education Department to resolve these issues. He has an Individualized Education Plan (or IEP) that states his services which is a legally binding document that the school district must follow under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (or IDEA). If they do not follow, we then have to takes steps at a Due Process Hearing to help push things along. It's horrible, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease and we're hoping that if we stay on top of things, that Andrew will not be one of those kids that falls through the cracks. It's sad to find out that even though we are on top of making sure that Andrew gets his services, that there are MANY other children who probably aren't. This is what allows Andrew to attend a regular school and in a regular classroom. Without IDEA, Andrew would probably not be in a regular classroom. Although he is a bright, intelligent little boy, his physical delays would prevent him from going to school where he does.
On another note, his Therapeutic Equine sessions are going really well. Andrew has graduated to a faster more aggressive horse. He will still go on Lilly the smoother horse for his Hippotherapy, but for his riding, he has been riding Sheba and last week Dell. He's been trotting on the horses and going quickly through the trails. He's been righting himself without assistance and LOVES to go fast! Marie at Medicine Horse is amazed at Andrew's ability to ride. She is so excited that she's got a rider like Andrew and she loves to watch him. We've continued this therapy despite the cost. We feel it may be the one "sport" that Andrew can really enjoy and it shows that he is good at it. In the long run it will be worth it. He's really bonded with the horses and we see a real enthusiasm that he has for horseback riding. Eventually he will graduate to riding without any sidewalkers but will still need the "Hippotherapy" part of it all. That's where he does other things on the horse such as the tether ball and stretching etc. We've been advocating for Medicine Horse to help get things like this included on his IEP for part of his therapy program. If the State Education can recognize this as a beneficial form of therapy, we can hopefully replace one of his school provided therapy sessions to include Hippotherapy. This would help to ease the cost to us for having Andrew attend. There are other agencies that help to provide the service at no cost, but unfortunately, even if I quit my job, our family income is beyond the guidelines for acceptance. Although we can barely pay out of pocket, the income guidelines are too low for many families unless the parents work minimum wage jobs or do not work at all. So if anyone knows of a better way or how to get our insurance company on board, let us know.
The boys each had their yearly trips to the pumpkin patch and apple orchards for their class field trips. Andrew's was today and Matthew's was last Friday. They got to pick out their own pumpkins, make apple cider and taste cider donuts. Again they took a hay ride and went to the petting zoo.
Matthew is doing so well at preschool and really enjoys writing. He also loves to do his "art stuff" and thinks he's an architect! So cute. He's been a little off beat lately missing Andrew at school. He can't wait to ride the bus to Kindergarten next year with Andrew. He's sad that He can't ride the bus now. They get to see each other after Andrew gets off the bus for Afterschool care where Matthew goes to preschool and daycare, so that makes him happy. And of course he is still such a ladies man. He's got his little girlfriends that he hugs and kisses before leaving each day. It's really cute. Soon he'll be saying they have cooties, so we'll smile while we can. Then it will be onto real girlfriends and we're not looking forward to that.
Andrew's doing really well in school. We're having a really hard time with the school coordinating his services. This year he has a shared aide and gets the usual OT, PT and speech. The school dropped the ball on him having an aide on the bus, but thankfully he's adjusted to riding the bus without one. His PT is a HUGE issue since he relys on that Physically Therapy to keep him walking. He had a major regression because of the lapse of service of PT. We've been fighting with the school to keep up on it and seems that there are some scheduling problems. We've called a team meeting and have a regular schedule sent to us from the school so that we can check up on them. Hopefully we will not have to resort to going to the State Education Department to resolve these issues. He has an Individualized Education Plan (or IEP) that states his services which is a legally binding document that the school district must follow under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (or IDEA). If they do not follow, we then have to takes steps at a Due Process Hearing to help push things along. It's horrible, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease and we're hoping that if we stay on top of things, that Andrew will not be one of those kids that falls through the cracks. It's sad to find out that even though we are on top of making sure that Andrew gets his services, that there are MANY other children who probably aren't. This is what allows Andrew to attend a regular school and in a regular classroom. Without IDEA, Andrew would probably not be in a regular classroom. Although he is a bright, intelligent little boy, his physical delays would prevent him from going to school where he does.
On another note, his Therapeutic Equine sessions are going really well. Andrew has graduated to a faster more aggressive horse. He will still go on Lilly the smoother horse for his Hippotherapy, but for his riding, he has been riding Sheba and last week Dell. He's been trotting on the horses and going quickly through the trails. He's been righting himself without assistance and LOVES to go fast! Marie at Medicine Horse is amazed at Andrew's ability to ride. She is so excited that she's got a rider like Andrew and she loves to watch him. We've continued this therapy despite the cost. We feel it may be the one "sport" that Andrew can really enjoy and it shows that he is good at it. In the long run it will be worth it. He's really bonded with the horses and we see a real enthusiasm that he has for horseback riding. Eventually he will graduate to riding without any sidewalkers but will still need the "Hippotherapy" part of it all. That's where he does other things on the horse such as the tether ball and stretching etc. We've been advocating for Medicine Horse to help get things like this included on his IEP for part of his therapy program. If the State Education can recognize this as a beneficial form of therapy, we can hopefully replace one of his school provided therapy sessions to include Hippotherapy. This would help to ease the cost to us for having Andrew attend. There are other agencies that help to provide the service at no cost, but unfortunately, even if I quit my job, our family income is beyond the guidelines for acceptance. Although we can barely pay out of pocket, the income guidelines are too low for many families unless the parents work minimum wage jobs or do not work at all. So if anyone knows of a better way or how to get our insurance company on board, let us know.
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