This post is about 1 month late but summer has been flying by and I keep forgetting to post about her end of school meeting. As usual we ended her school year with a case conference; her pre-school teacher, her resource teacher, her occupational therapist, her speech pathologist and her new teacher were present. Elizabeth had a great year as usual and we are very happy with her placement in her pre-school, I like the low ratio (1:8), gross motor time and that it is a laid back environment where Elizabeth can play and learn.
Throughout the year I have had some concerns with the work that Elizabeth brings home as it is scribbled and not what she is capable of doing at home with me or with her OT, I have thought it odd that Elizabeth never sings a song from school and that she never talks much about playing with a friend. We discussed her work that she is doing at school and where she is having difficulty and the areas are fine motor tasks and seat work activities her difficulties are due to her fine motor delays, inadequate seating, overexcitement and distraction. I know these are areas where Elizabeth has difficulty and I have been saying this for the past couple of years and have been fighting for appropriate OT services, I have said she needs a proper chair for years, I have said she is extremely distracted but yet her therapist feels she should be discharged OT services when she is in kindergarten.
Her difficulty with playing with others came up again and I do not know what to do, her play is different from others, she can fixate on being a dinosaur, a bug or a bat and if not really pushed and scripted for appropriate conversations she is off on another tangent. Elizabeth tells me that she plays on her own and no one wants to play with her. Her teacher says she has her own agenda and will do or play with whatever pleases her and is happy to be on her own but it kills me that she does not have a friend at school.
As for singing her teacher says she will not sing with her class which is odd because at home and in the car she sings constantly (she does have great difficulty saying the right words but she carries the tune). Once again I think it is her hearing; she cannot hear what is being said with all the other children singing.
All in all her meeting had me really upset; she has trained staff who are to be watching out for areas of delay and dealing with them and yet how did so much go unnoticed? There are strict rules about parents not being present which I think I will bring up next fall as I could point these things out immediately and ensure they are addressed if I could occasionally observe.
The plan for next year: a proper supportive chair, an FM unit so she can hear her teacher primarily and to time seat work activity when there are less distractions. I think this is going to be the beginning of learning difficulties for Elizabeth and the more academics that are introduced the more difficulties are going to come up and it is something we will need to stay on top of to ensure Elizabeth can learn which we know she is very capable of.
