BeckyScott
<font color=magenta>I am still upset that they don
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2007
- Messages
- 1,127
I am having a big problem, and I hope you all can give suggestions and ideas.
DS7 is HFA (although I'm thinking this is a problem almost every child with a disability encounters). I have tried my best to keep him active in the community, out of the house, doing stuff, learning things, etc etc.
Well of course he has global delays. For quite a while, we got away with putting him in preschool-level activities, or in the preschool-level class at lessons. He was a year or two older, but he still blended in well enough it wasn't a big deal. Socially, he was still more at a preschool level anyway, so it worked for everyone.
So he'll be in 2nd grade next week (how did that happen?) and while he is mainstreamed at school, we still have issues with the extra-cirricular activities. For example: swim lessons. In our town, the Red Cross swim lessons are very popular, and DS enjoys the water. The past 3 years we had him in the preschool class. In that class, the parents also went into the pool, so we were good to go, no problem. Well this summer, he was just too old to be in the preschool class. I don't think the Red Cross would have cared, but I cared. So we moved him up to the beginner class. Now the class was small, only 4 or 5 kids per teacher, so he was supervised well enough. But. He wasn't learning anything, it just wasn't the right place for him.
We also have him in taekwondo. The same thing happened. He was in the preschool class until about a month ago. He finally got to a belt level, and he was at least a head taller than any of the other kids, where the preschool class wasn't appropriate. But. The next class is too much, he doesn't fit in there either. I have been attending class with him, sort of like a para, and it is an exercise in frustration. (I have even more respect for paras than ever, and I always had a lot)
He doesn't "fit in" anywhere. I did know that at some point this was going to happen, but now that it's here, I just don't know how to handle it. We live in a fairly small community that has alot in place for disabled adults, but nothing in place for children- no children's Special Olympics or anything at all like that. There is a support group that just started last spring but they didn't meet over the summer. I had been wading thru on my own pretty well up to this point, keeping him mainstreamed into activities. I don't know if I should keep pushing.
I don't want it to seem like I'm in denial. But I do want him to be out of the house, doing things, and I'm having a harder and harder time with that. The social development is so important. Everyone has been playing nice with me so far, but I wonder if at some point, they're going to stop. Sure, I think the Red Cross would get stuck one way or the other, letting him take lessons, but I don't want to become one of "those parents" either and I can see the beginnings of that. Of the hundreds of kids that went thru the swim lessons this summer, I am almost positive (because I was really really watching) that our son was the only child with a disability there. At taekwondo we are over to the side doing our own little thing, and they've always been really nice about it, but you can just tell that they wonder why I'm even bothering. I just feel like I'm constantly trying to pave the way. And I know that's never going to stop, but some days it's really tiring.
I don't know if I need a big hug, a margarita, or some advice. Any of them would be appreciated.
DS7 is HFA (although I'm thinking this is a problem almost every child with a disability encounters). I have tried my best to keep him active in the community, out of the house, doing stuff, learning things, etc etc.
Well of course he has global delays. For quite a while, we got away with putting him in preschool-level activities, or in the preschool-level class at lessons. He was a year or two older, but he still blended in well enough it wasn't a big deal. Socially, he was still more at a preschool level anyway, so it worked for everyone.
So he'll be in 2nd grade next week (how did that happen?) and while he is mainstreamed at school, we still have issues with the extra-cirricular activities. For example: swim lessons. In our town, the Red Cross swim lessons are very popular, and DS enjoys the water. The past 3 years we had him in the preschool class. In that class, the parents also went into the pool, so we were good to go, no problem. Well this summer, he was just too old to be in the preschool class. I don't think the Red Cross would have cared, but I cared. So we moved him up to the beginner class. Now the class was small, only 4 or 5 kids per teacher, so he was supervised well enough. But. He wasn't learning anything, it just wasn't the right place for him.
We also have him in taekwondo. The same thing happened. He was in the preschool class until about a month ago. He finally got to a belt level, and he was at least a head taller than any of the other kids, where the preschool class wasn't appropriate. But. The next class is too much, he doesn't fit in there either. I have been attending class with him, sort of like a para, and it is an exercise in frustration. (I have even more respect for paras than ever, and I always had a lot)
He doesn't "fit in" anywhere. I did know that at some point this was going to happen, but now that it's here, I just don't know how to handle it. We live in a fairly small community that has alot in place for disabled adults, but nothing in place for children- no children's Special Olympics or anything at all like that. There is a support group that just started last spring but they didn't meet over the summer. I had been wading thru on my own pretty well up to this point, keeping him mainstreamed into activities. I don't know if I should keep pushing.
I don't want it to seem like I'm in denial. But I do want him to be out of the house, doing things, and I'm having a harder and harder time with that. The social development is so important. Everyone has been playing nice with me so far, but I wonder if at some point, they're going to stop. Sure, I think the Red Cross would get stuck one way or the other, letting him take lessons, but I don't want to become one of "those parents" either and I can see the beginnings of that. Of the hundreds of kids that went thru the swim lessons this summer, I am almost positive (because I was really really watching) that our son was the only child with a disability there. At taekwondo we are over to the side doing our own little thing, and they've always been really nice about it, but you can just tell that they wonder why I'm even bothering. I just feel like I'm constantly trying to pave the way. And I know that's never going to stop, but some days it's really tiring.
I don't know if I need a big hug, a margarita, or some advice. Any of them would be appreciated.