OUT OF DISTRICT!
These 3 words are music to my ears…and ones I wasn’t certain I would ever hear. I have heard that West Orange has a great child study team that looks out for the best interest of their children, but didn’t believe it until we saw it.
Josephine’s preliminary transitional meeting was scheduled for January 28. In attendance were our EI Service Coordinator, a West Orange Preschool Case Manager/Social Worker, our EI PT (Lana), our EI ST (Carrie), Sheldon Daddy, myself and Josephine.
Given the rarity of Josephine’s diagnosis, I was prepared to bring a 48 page Power Point presentation, complete with over 50 pages of articles about the 13 other cases documented. After a firm reprimand from our Stepping Stones family (Josephine’s group therapy school), I decided to forgo all those pages. Instead, I created a one page document, listing Josephine’s 4 diagnoses and 21 symptoms related to the Tet 8p. (click on this link to access the specific document – Symptoms)
That document was ALL that was needed for the case manager to determine the West Orange program was not suitable for Josephine’s needs. No explanation was necessary. No fighting was needed. Of course, it didn’t hurt to have her therapists there also – in fact, it further solidified the decision.
What was originally supposed to be a preliminary meeting quickly turned into the second meeting to arrange for the evaluation to formulate Josephine’s IEP (Individual Educational Plan) for the Fall 2011 school year. The child study team evaluation is scheduled for March 15, 2011.
We were also told to check out several private schools and were given a list of those schools, which matched the list I already had in my head.
The schools for consideration are:
1. The Children’s Therapy Center in Fair Lawn (already toured on Feb. 4)
2. The Horizons School in Livingston (tour scheduled for Feb. 15)
3. The ARC Kohler School in Mountainside (tour scheduled for Feb. 16)
4. P.G. Chambers School in Cedar Knolls (tour scheduled for Feb. 17)
Once I have toured all the schools, I will let you know my assessment of each, along with our 1st and 2nd choices (hopefully). I have my favorites from what I’ve read and heard about, but I am really trying to keep an open mind until after I see all of them and can compare adequately.
The good thing is we have this option, which gets Josephine one step closer to getting what she deserves: a life that’s “Normal for Josephine”.