Catching up

Well, so many things have happened since my last post..Javad has turned 7, he had "the greatest birthday party ever" and school is going great!

We decided to have him repeat kindergarten so he could get the equipment he needs to be totally successful throughout school. The exciting news is that we have gotten his Vantage, which is a computer that is used for speech. I am really excited about it...He has used it before and it was great!

We are waiting for his new wheelchair, which will be going from a "Yugo" to a "Humvee" in quality and functionality! We are hoping that he will get it within a few weeks.

By Christmas, he will be using the Vantage and his new chair. Life is good...

Finally, we have moved Javad into his (somewhat unfinished) room, which has both benefits and drawbacks. His bed is not big enough so we can cuddle, which is a big bummer, but he has lots of space to be able to drive around..

Overall, life is looking up in Javad's world (and ours too!)

Talk with you soon!

Shannon

Javad's first move

Well, school is out for Javad. Happy Valley Elementary is being destroyed. It is kind of sad. Stesha and Simon both went to Happy Valley...my sister went to Happy Valley and now a new school has been built and Javad will go there next year. It is both an elementary and middle school, so essentially he will be in the same building for 8 years.

Javad will re-do kindergarten next year so we can get all his equipment taken care of. He will also start a hybrid schedule next year, staying until 1pm. He will be in class all morning and then get his "specials" during the next hour. This hopefully will help him in the long term.

He is doing well! He loved school...we are going on some field trips this summer (just the family).

It's going to be great! I am excited!

Shannon

Maybe not so up to date

Okay, so I committed long ago that I was going to keep Javad's blog more up-to-date, but here it is more than a month later and no post.

Well, that stops today. HERE IT IS!!!

Javad is doing really great! Moving schools in January has been a godsend. The teacher is fabulous, the students really accept him for who he is. It has been awesome!

Last weekend, Javad was invited to his first birthday party (for someone not related to him!) There were about 12 kids at the party (for a classmate) and the parents were fabulous. The boy's father was incredible. If the kids moved out to the patio, we moved Javad (and his chair) out to the patio. Inside for the reptile show...you know it, Javad moved inside too! Outside for cupcakes, out again...We moved in and out all day. Javad had a great time.

We are getting ready for his IEP meeting on friday. It will be a big one. We are planning out next year. I think the general plan is to have a hybrid schedule next year. Go to school in the morning (the general plan is to repeat kindergarten so we can get all of his technology in place), have lunch (well, sit with friends while they eat), then go to the resource room for an hour to work with PT/OT, speech. It will also give him time to take his brace off, get out of his chair and so on. I feel like putting time in his day for him to relax and rest will be so important as he gets older, so planning this time in now will be great!

I'll write more later! (promise)

Shannon

Computers, computers, computers

Javad is now, officially a computer geek! He loves the computer! Every day after school, he gets home and drives his chair straight to the computer. He loves it! He plays starfall.com every day.

Now he has a computer for school. I think the world is about to explode and he is all over it!

I am excited about what this computer means for him...

Getting on the wagon

Okay...I am trying to get back on the wagon. I seem to get motivated and then fall off the wagon. My commitment is to start writing every other day...

Javad is doing so many fabulous things. It has been an exciting time...tomorrow I will begin again.

Really...I promise!

Lily and the purple plastic purse

First I need to acknowledge that it has been forever since I blogged on this site. If you would have asked, I would not have thought so much time had passed. Apparently, it has.

I am back....making the commitment to get blogging again. So much is happening...I am in kindergarten, I love school, I am exploring my world by leaps and bounds...life is GOOD!!

Today I went to my first play. The tickets were a preset from Grami and Papa for my mom and I to go with my Aunt Megan and cousin Dakota. Well, the best laid plans...this morning, Auntie and cousin woke up very sick...Mommy and I crinkled our noses...Ewww...we were sorry that they were sick, but glad we weren't. We decided to go and see the play anyway and try to get their tickets exchanged to (hopefully) go tomorrow!

Mommy, Anne (one of our fav nurses), and I pakced up the car and drove to the theater. Sounds so high class, huh? We got there and to our seats. We were seeing "Lily and the purple plastic purse." IT was fun! It was put on by the Children's Theater. I almost made it to the end. I have been sick so I was pretty tired and we had to duck out the last 15 minutes. It was great anyway!

So, let me catch you up on the other great things going on. I started kindergarten this fall. I started the year at a charter school in our district, but transferred in January to the neighborhood school. The original school wasn't very wheelchair accessible, so it made it hard for me to get around. I have been at my new school for two weeks and I LOVE IT! I have a new assistant who I think is awesome (so does Anne and Deb, the nurses who go to school with me) and my new teacher is wonderful! It's been great!

I am getting a new speech board. I have it for a while right now to practice, but hopefully I will get it by the end of the school year.

Well, that's all I can think of right now! SOrry it has been so long...I will be writing now!

Javad

Javad and his big man glasses

Last friday, Javad got his very first pair of glasses. A few weeks ago, we got his eyes checked and found that his vision was VERY bad! We knew that his vision wasn't super, since he had a habit of bringing things about 3 inches in front of his eyes whenever he wants to see anything.

We were not really prepared for how bad his vision was. We have been told that his vision is 20/800 or 20/1000. Holy cow! The eye doctor says that he cannot even see the big E on the eye chart. Wow! I guess my little astigmatism shouldn't be complained about...Oh, he has that too!

So, as I was saying on friday he got his new glasses. What a difference they have made. He wears them all the time, from morning to night. He watched movies (and cartoons) from across the room. He waves down the hall, smiles when people come into the room. He loves riding in the car and is constantly pointing at things. It's great to watch. Javad's world has opened up to him. What a difference this will make in school...now that he can actually see the board! :)

I will post some pictures of him in his big man glasses very soon!