First 6 weeks

Last week we had our first Kindergarten ARD meeting and this week was our first Parent/Teacher conference about how Jacob is doing in school. The ARD was very successful for us. They are going to do a full Autism evaluation before Christmas. This will give us lots of specific information about how Jacob learns best and what areas he needs help with. It will also give us the "official" diagnosis, even though our neurologist has already diagnosed him. The evaluation will be more specific than "autism spectrum disorder."

Also, they are going to place him in a "Circle of Friends" social skills class twice every 6 weeks and he will get some individual training from the psychologist too. I am ecstatic about these two things. I don't have very many concerns about Jacob's intellect, but social skills training will help fill in some gaps.

The Parent/Teacher meeting went well, with his inclusion teacher present as well. They shared how a lot of the tools they needed to use at the beginning of the year are no longer necessary. The routine has been established and now he only needs an occasional reminder. We will be adding a few more visual reminders for him (and the rest of the class) about interrupting his teacher while she is talking to someone else.

I know that his teacher was nervous about Jacob before school started, but she told me in the meeting that she loved having him in her class. He is always smiling, "beaming" and fits in well in class. They all rotate table seats every 6 weeks, so he has new table buddies and they are one of the quietest tables she has now. THAT is an accomplishment for my "high volume" boy!