IEP Meeting

Just an update on Gabriel. We have finally completed all of his evaluations and testing through the Aurora school district and had our final IEP meeting. We are so very fortunate to work with great people there and we basically got everything we asked for. Gabe qualified for:

* Speech therapy for 45 minutes per week (20-25 individually and 20-25 in a group setting)
* Occupational therapy for 30 minutes per week (with the OT consulting with the teachers/administrators for 60 minues per month)
* Autism consultation services (basically she assists the teachers, administrators and parents with autism related issues and helps with needs he might have in the classroom)

The best news of all is that he will be receiving all of these services at his current preschool/daycare center, Two Rivers Head Start. The center and staff have been so wonderful to us, they love Gabriel and he loves them. We are so pleased to be able to keep him there, where he is happy and still get him some help. He can stay at Head Start until August of next year, and then will have to leave to go to Kindergarten.

The IEP process is completed each year but evaluations and testing are typically only done every 3 years.

We are so proud of Gabriel. We are so blessed to have him.

Thank you all for supporting us.

Tennessee

What a fabulous vacation! We had such a wonderful time in TN - between the swimming, eating, seeing family, sight seeing and relaxing...what more could we ask for!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabesmom1003/TNVacationJuly2008

Lisle Eyes to the Skies

We love the Lisle Eyes to the Skies hot air balloon festival. We discovered it last year and it has quickly become a tradition. The tough part is getting up at 4:15am to get their on time. But this year there were some wind issues and instead of the balloons taking off in front of us, they had to drive several miles away to launch. The great part about that was that they got to land in front of it. It was GREAT and well worth the early wake up call.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabesmom1003/LisleBalloonFest08

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th! We went to the Aurora Independence Day parade and then the local Aurora fireworks. Boy do we love fireworks!! Gabe's favorite part of the parade - the jets overhead! Gabe is also really into using my camera and will steal it whenever possible. You'll notice some pictures are ones he has taken...mostly of his shoes!

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabesmom1003/4thOfJuly08

Fireflies!

Several months ago, I registered Roy, Gabriel and I for an outdoor adventure on Fireflies. Basically, it was put on by the local nature center and involved meeting at a local park, learning about fireflies and then catching some. We had a wonderful time and learned alot. Gabriel got his very own "bug-a-lug" to catch them with (and then let them go) and Dad did a great job catching LOTS!! Gabriel is thrilled to see them light up all over our very own backyard.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabesmom1003/Fireflies

Father's Day

Here's some pics of how we celebrated Father's Day!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabesmom1003/FathersDay08

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabesmom1003/Prairefest08

How we spent our Sunday...

....well it was a HOT one!! We had a bunch of storms, wind and rain come through. So we watched a movie and hung out. After a little nap, the sun came out and the clouds moved away...so we headed outside for a little fun. Gabriel had been asking for a campfire but he fell asleep early on Friday and Saturday nights. Roy got out the Slip-and-Slide and had some fun with Gabriel. I'm not sure who had more fun - Gabe or Roy! LOL We decided for dinner that we'd get the campfire going and roast hot dogs and then have smores. Everything was yummy. It's so nice to have a big backyard and pretend we are camping...and then come inside and sleep in the air conditioning...and leave the bugs outside! Check out the rest of the pictures from today:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabesmom1003/Sunday6808

Gabriel - 6/4/08

Well as many of you know, Gabriel has been going through a lot of evaluations and testing for a number of issues. Back in March, he started OT (occupational therapy) for Sensory Integration issues and is doing well. We've also gone though some additional testing for Autism and Autism related disorders. The verdict from the local school district is that he has PDD-NOS (Pervasive Development Disorder - Not Otherwise Specificed). I call this the "we don't know what's the matter with your kid" label. LOL But it just a form of autism. Luckily it is a high-functioning form and Gabriel is doing great.

We have a couple more evals to go through and the school district will brainstorm and make recommendations on what types of assistive service they can provide for him. That might mean speech therapy, OT, an aide, special accomodations in the classroom, etc. So hopefully we will know more soon.

Just thought I'd give an update.

Mother's Day 2008

We had a great Mother's Day. I got wonderful gifts and super special breakfast and dinner. I was missing my mom and sister but will get to see them soon. It was a rainy, windy day so we decided to go to an LP Art exhibit. It was very cool to see all the album cover art.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabesmom1003/MomSDayAndLPArt

Gabe's Bean Bin

Gabriel is in Occupational Therapy for Sensory Integration Disfunction (SID). And one of the therapy tools they use is a bean bin. It's just like it sounds, a bin full of dried pinto beans. He likes it so much at therapy we decided to make one at home for him to play in. 1 plastic tub and 16 lbs of beans = FUN!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabesmom1003/GabeSBeanBin