Remember Charlie’s progress report a few weeks ago?  Well, the official report card came home today:

All A’s.  You heard me.  ALL A’s!

Along with the report card, the school sent home a bumper sticker, “My Child is an Honor Student at — Elementary,” (which Charlie immediately tried to stick on his Grandfather’s car), as well as a “Principal’s Honor Roll” ribbon.

After years of struggling to just BE in a classroom, to just be able to get through the entire day sitting in the class, this is a HUGE accomplishment.

“Huge” doesn’t even do it justice.

Way to go Charlie! 

Have I ever told you how I get Charlie into the school each morning?  Long story short:  Because he was unable to transition smoothly from being in the car with me, to getting out and walking into the school alone in the drop-off line, I park and walk him in.

Several months ago, the Principal and I decided it would be best for all involved for Charlie to be escorted into the building.  Since then, I have been parking and walking him to the front door of the school.  I then wait until I see him turn the corner towards his classroom before I walk away. (more…)

I was invited by Kim Stagliano to write a piece for Age of Autism regarding the comments Charlie has made about what autism is like for him.  Initially I was thrilled… I mean, who wouldn’t want to be published on Age of Autism!?!?  It’s like finding the freaking golden ticket!

But, as I began working on the piece, I found I continually came up with other tasks to complete.  I was confused.  This was (is!) a big deal for me.  Age of Autism is… well… I’ll just tell you what I told Kim:  Age of Autism has been my companion through some very dark times.  It has been a beacon of light in an otherwise very dark tunnel.  I have met some very cool people on AoA, I’ve learned some lessons, I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, and I’ve yelled in anger.  So how could it be that I was given the honor of being published on my favorite site; but, trimming my toenails seemed to be more important?  Sickness.  That is what it was. (more…)

If you visit my blog with any regularity, you’ve probably seen the post (HERE) where I talk about what the steroids are doing to Charlie’s body.   If you aren’t aware of these latest developments, I’ll just tell you that, as they are prone to do, the steroids have caused weight gain and swelling in Charlie’s face. (more…)

Yesterday the school sent home a copy of the reading test they gave Charlie (and all of the other students) to determine his skill level.  Charlie is an excellent reader.  When he was a year old, he would read little board books (Oh My! Oh My! Oh Dinosaurs! being his favorite.  He also read parts of Go Dog Go!) – of course then he stopped speaking and didn’t read anything (aloud) for years. (more…)

Yesterday Charlie came home with some work he had done in class.  As I was looking through the stack, I was convinced the teacher had given me some other child’s papers because the handwriting seemed too neat (relatively speaking… Charlie’s handwriting has always been horrible, no matter how much we work on his skills).

Imagine my shock to discover the papers did, in fact, belong to my son.  Unreal!  I’ve posted two samples on the sidebar of my site (look to the right) under “Pages,” with the title, “Handwriting Samples.”  Check it out!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW CHARLIE’S PROGRESS REPORT!!!!

Needless to say we are SO proud!!!

Here’s the skinny on day one of the first grade:

Let’s rewind to yesterday afternoon at pickup time… I stood outside the doors of the school, waiting for the bell to ring and to see my son come running out to me (I was secretly wishing he would have a big smile on his face).  The bell rang and a group of kids came running out – none of them mine.  I felt the fear creep into my belly.  A few minutes later another group of kids came running out.  Again, not my child.  The fear crept into my chest and grabbed hold of my heart.  My mind started running through all of the possible scenarios: Was he sitting in the Principal’s office? Was he throwing a tantrum because he wasn’t released with the other kids? (more…)

Just dropped Charlie at school for day one of first grade.  Here’s how the morning went down:

4:30 a.m.:  It was pitch black outside. Everyone was sleeping… or should have been sleeping.  Charlie didn’t get that memo.  He tapped me on the shoulder and told me it was time to get up and get ready for school.  I told him there might be someone on another continent that is getting up at this hour for school, but that on our continent we still had a few hours before we needed to be up.  His response, “Dang-it!” (more…)

Have you ever been sitting in an IEP meeting wishing you had your child’s doctor sitting next to you?  You know, to explain everything in a very doctor-ly manner?  I have, many times. As a matter of fact, just this past Friday I was sitting in Charlie’s IEP wishing Dr. Krigsman could be in the room. But just as the thought crossed my mind, I remembered I had put the pictures from the endoscopy procedures in my file folder. (more…)