Great Day!

Report card day.

Normally a day that we secretly cringe when we open Chan's. Afraid of what we might see. We never have to worry about the one we get from Beans because we know that it will be outstanding as usual.

Today, was a little different.
Well, Beans was the same- Perfect, kudos, excellent student, complete joy to have. I will never tire of hearing all those good things. It is especially nice to hear when the first child has yet to hear it. It sort of validates us a little. We know that we do our best with Chan, but it is hard when he has so many bad days, Any good news is definitely a reward.

But today.

Today, we got a glowing report for Chan. I am so excited, I could write it in sidewalk chalk in front of the school for all to see. His improvements have been awesome and he has made great strides!!

We used to say that we would occasionally see glimpses of our sweet little boy shine through, but lately, he's been here everyday! I cherish these days and I half expect them to be short lived, but we keep having them. I just wish we knew the trigger. Either way, I LOVE This sweet boy!!

We had a meeting at Chan's school today to review his IEP. We revised it back in February to fit his growing needs and just last week the school received it back from the district, approving it all.
This is all great, since there are a lot of extra services for him in there. There is just one little change- Oh, almost all of it!
Chan has been doing so well in school that his IEP is really just going to be used as a backup plan! This is awesome for Chan, for us and the school. Chan is finally receiving daily one on one assistance for his reading and writing instead of one on one just to make sure he'll stay in the building. His regular education teacher wanted to cry with genuine joy when we reviewed his work. He has made so much progress, and really just in the last 4 weeks. It was a great meeting and we are excited to see Chan excel in school. He is the top student in his class for math. He still has some work to do with his reading but with the new specialist, this too will be just something that used to be.

C had a meeting with the local Mental Health clinic director for work today. He has a special interest because we attribute some of Chan's progress to his psychologist that has been working with him. As a result of the meeting, C will now be on the board for the MHC and will begin helping them raise the money necessary to bring more therapists into each of the local elementary schools. There are not a lot of parents that would be willing to share their story about their child with mental illness, let alone a parent willing to spend his "Free" time lobbying to support other children with the same or more severe needs in the community.
The Director was impressed with C and our story, his willingness and desire to bring more awareness. She has now agreed to make one of her therapists that work in the school district, available to Chan's elementary school. Currently there are only 6 schools that have this advantage in the district and soon there will be at least one more.

During our meeting this afternoon with the teachers, and other staff at the school, C shared this with them. They were excited and almost stunned. This is something they have been told would probably never happen. What they didn't know is that there was a father willing to do anything for his son and other children just like him.

Today, was a good day. I am so proud of both my boys :)