So, I mentioned in my last post that I am hoping to get a 504 plan in place for each of my boys, in 3rd grade and 5th grade, to allow accommodations in the classroom. But I didn't mention exactly what we were trying to get accomplished. Just thought I'd give a little background, so that anyone who may be reading this would perhaps be able to lift us up in specific prayer if they think of us? Basically, both of my boys have horrible handwriting. I know this can be a common thing for many boys who just want to rush through everything and not take their time. But for years we have worked on handwriting, and even with taking their time, they seemed to have trouble forming letters correctly, sitting them on the line, and sometimes even getting their thoughts from their mind down onto the paper. It always has seemed like more than just bad handwriting to me, but I didn't know what to do. After speaking with a friend who is an Occupational Therapist, and trying to get them evaluated through the school, basically because of their grades and test scores still being good right now, they didn't qualify to be tested in the school. But my friend encouraged me to possibly get them evaluated by a private OT. Both boy also have amblyopia, in which their brain only uses their one good eye to see, unless forced by a patch or eye blurring drops to use the bad eye too. My friend possibly believed that the combination of this visual diagnosis along with possibly some fine motor skill difficulty could together be contributing to their difficulty in writing. After praying about it for a few more weeks, my husband and I decided to in fact get them both evaluated by a private OT. Straight out of pocket costs for us because of our high deductible, and it isn't cheap, but we felt like we needed to try our best to make whatever sacrifice necessary to get to the bottom of this issue and find out if it was in fact just "bad handwriting" or something more. After the OT's evaluations, she found that both boys have very poor fine motor skills in their hand muscles. Our oldest tested at age 8, and is actually almost 11. Our middle son tested at age 6 and is 8. So a 3 year and 2 year lag behind their real age for each. The OT also believed that the combination of their amblyopia and poor fine motor control may together contribute to their difficulty as well. We agreed to have the OT see both boys for 5 appointments each. That is all we can afford at this time, and even these we are trying to figure out how to financially cover completely. The OT has allowed me to sit in on each appointment so that I could learn the exercises she suggests for them to strengthen their hand muscles with the idea that we could continue at home ourselves after the appointments conclude. So, both boys have been making good strides while at the appointments, however, it seems that as they almost come to a conclusion, much of what they learn and work on in the appointments, is not transferring over to their work while at school and home trying to apply what they've learned to their actual school assignments. The OT and I both believe that there is possibly also a written language expression disability going on, called dysgraphia. However, the OT cannot diagnose, so we must be referred to a developmental pediatrician in order to gain a specific diagnosis. Thus comes in the 13 pages of paperwork for each that I must now complete . . .
Here is a link explaining dysgraphia very simply as well as a link to some suggested accommodations that could easily be implemented in the classroom, of which we hope to get some in place on their 504 plans:
Explains Dysgraphia:
Offers many good and simple suggestions for accommodations:
So, here is where we are now in the process. Going through this with both boys, at 2 different schools, is very overwhelming and it seems that I have to get everything done right away. There is a bit of a time crunch factor, because the paperwork must all be turned in before an appointment can even be scheduled, and there is sometimes a 4-6 month wait for an appointment. We are praying that will not be the case, as we hope to get this accomplished before the end of the school year. But that is my hope and my timing.
I must "take a deep breath" and trust God's timing of how He wants things to work out. If we don't get in before the end of the year, then we don't. And we will be okay. Both boys are still making A's and B's on their report cards, although lately some very low test grades are starting to show themselves, many times when essay questions are part of tests. So, I know as my oldest moves into middle school next year, there will be even more writing required. Our oldest usually has the answers in his head, and when asked verbally, can tell you a whole paragraph long answer. But he can't get it written out onto the paper in the allotted time given for the answers on the tests. Verbal vs Written answers for some things is one accommodation we hope for. We want to get these in place before there is an even greater problem.
This morning in church, the Pastor preached from Nehemiah and the power of Godly leadership. You know those times you feel that the message was speaking directly to you? It was one of those times this morning for me. Just as God called Nehemiah to be a leader and to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, I feel He is calling me right now as their Mother to be a leader to fight for my boys' educational needs in order to allow them the best chance of success. Do I feel like my calling is any less important than Nehemiah's? It seems smaller, but it is not less important. God calls each of us to be leaders in different ways at different times in our lives, no matter how small the request may seem, it is always important if He calls you. The entire sermon spoke to me, but the thing that stood out the most to me was that our Pastor said that Nehemiah "took a deep breath."
Nehemiah 2:11 says, "So I arrived in Jerusalem. Three days later,"
After Nehemiah arrived, he was there for 3 days. Before he did the next step, he was there for 3 days. He just took a deep breath. Wow, how refreshing to know that Nehemiah needed some time too in order to process what God had called him to do! And before he moved onto the next steps, he just took a deep breath!
With all this paperwork before me, I obviously just needed to take a deep breath too. Writing, whether on this blog or in a journal always is one way I use to reflect and figure out things. What are you trying to work out in your life today? Do all the steps before you seem overwhelming? Has God called you to something that you don't know how you're going to do or how it will all work out? I encourage you to also take a deep breath. Wait on God's timing. Rest it all on the Lord. (2 more points our pastor spoke of today.)
Nehemiah 2:18 - "Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me,. . . "
The gracious hand of God is on me, and it is on you too! How comforting it is that we can rest it all on the Lord. Please continue to pray for us, if we come to your mind, and that as we go step by step in this overwhelming process that I will rest it all on the Lord.
And please allow me to pray for you too. If you are someone I know reading this, or even someone I don't know, won't you please allow me to lift you up to the Lord too? Feel free to comment or email me (jillbrisken@gmail.com) privately and let me know how I can pray for you. We are all in this Christian journey together! Remember to take a deep breath this week as you face whatever God has called you to do in your life.
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