Back to School~ Sord Of

My youngest is my rainbow baby. He’s my sarcastic, dry/dark humor comedian. He’s very stubborn and does not ask for help. Since 1st grade, it’s been one thing after another. PreK and Kindergarten, Richie was a perfect student. Then 1st grade came and he started behaving poorly and he was acting up worse at home. It’s sad as a parent not being able to control your child’s outbursts or console him properly. 

After years of Doctors and therapy, it was noted that Richie had autism, ADHD, and ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) After that awful year in 1st grade, we opted for a Catholic school, for the structure and small classes. We never properly had an IEP or 504 plan due to lack of school resources. Outside of school, I had every office helping out. FSA, CSA, counseling and holistic treatments. We were always told by his primary physician that he may grow out of Autism and his behaviors. I’ve never heard of someone growing out of Autism, but it was still in the back of my mind and I was hopeful for it. 

This year we decided while he has one last year before high school, we should get him used to public schools (homework and testing) plus it would give us a year to get him on whatever program he may need. His old school suggested a new Neuropsych Evaluation to see where he stands currently. His physician wasn’t going to do the testing and didn’t feel it was necessary, but I was wondering what the current results would show and newer testing would help out with the school department. We got a second opinion. 

I remember that day, Richie had never met that new Doctor and definitely didn’t want to take a 4 hour test. They took tons of breaks. About 2 hours into it, the doctor came out and said he didn’t think they would finish; that damn ODD winning. Not today Satan! After a pep talk, Richie finished the exam. When the results came in a few days later, I was astonished that per the numerical board~ Richie no longer tested on the Autism scale. I am super grateful that both doctors gave their recommendations for an IEP or 504. Thank God! We've needed this for quite awhile. 

Well, fast forward to another COVID school year. New school, new teachers, new classes, new remote learning~ all comes with new tears. Both of us- tired from the morning, tired from not knowing what to expect and Richie just becoming frustrated. Who knows who started it, but I felt helpless. As a mom, that’s a terrible feeling. I felt like I did years ago when we were first entering into this world of therapy and doctors visits and emails back and forth between administration and myself. I had to remind myself how we got through it last time. This too shall pass. Lets hope the rest of the year goes more smoothly than this!