Good school news

My big hope for school nest year is that we will be able to get a shared para for Joseph. That means there would be someone in the classroom with him at all times to help him in the areas he's having troube with (writing and social skills). Since it would be a shared para situation they would also be there to help out another student, probably a student with needs similar to Joseph's. I think this would be the ideal situation for Joseph.

Today when I went to pick him up I ran into his IEP case manager I told her that I was really hopeful that we would be able to get a shared para. She told me that earlier this afternoon she spoke to the autism specialist who assesed Joseph and that she (the specialist) was going to reccomend a shared para for next year. She also told me that this carries a lot of weight and will probably help us bypass some of the difficulties that people often face when trying to access the services of para.

So it's not a sure thing yet but it's looking good. I mean, it's a sure thing because I'll fight for it if I have to but right now it's looking like there might not have to be a fight. And just in case there is a fight, Joseph's teacher gave me a piece of advice on how to get what we want. (She's really not supposed to tell me what she did but needless to say it was much appreciated.) I've said it before and I'll say it again: We are so lucky to have such great people on Joseph's team. At times when I feel like I'm overwhelmed and not sure what to do I just need to remember that we have a lot of people who can help us out. We've got a lot of great resources for Joseph, I just need to remember that they're there!