May 4, 2007

• Two Steps Closer:

  A Tolkien thought: Despair, or folly? It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.  I don't know when I started seeing the future as something to be dreaded rather than anticipated with pleasure.  There will be good days and bad ahead.  And we'll make it through them both.

  School:

  I talked with the Special Services Coordinator yesterday.  I learned that she doesn't coordinate autism services only, but also all the gifted and talented programs and students - district wide.  She's a very pleasant person.  She interviewed Michael and found him to be "charming and sweet."  She reviewed his records and said that she could see the basis for the decision to remove him from Spec Ed last fall, BUT that there needed to be education because the thinking there was faulty.  You don't tell an autistic kid that you can't accommodate him because he doesn't have an intellectual impairment.  (And you sure don't tell that same kid's parent ...)

  She is planning to work with me and the school to remedy the situation.  I'm planning to move.  That's my remedy.  I know she's a nice lady.  And in truth the educators working with Michael are probably all nice and well-intentioned people. However, she is only one person trying to do the work of at least six positions; and they don't have his best interest as their top priority.  The Special Ed coordinators for his school are concerned about costs, scores, and reports - not the needs of this individual student.  I am sure that we can make them take him back, but I'm not convinced that this is in his best interest.  After all, this is the same team of people who allowed him to be so teased and become so isolated that he has been eating lunch alone since January.  (I'm still angry about that simply because I thought that the counselor was dealing with it.  But no.  I was wrong.)

  Work:

  Today (in about 30 minutes) the Board of Directors will be meeting.  I'll present to them the program growth Since I became the Director.  It's impressing even me.  We didn't quite double the number of clients from end of March to end of April, but that's in large part because we are running low on money and I was told to "throttle back" - we did however see a 70% increase, so even at only partial steam ahead, I did good. 

  I'm helping people.  That's something that I forget to talk about sometimes when I'm ranting and raving about the things that are difficult here.  I'm helping people.  I listen, I find places where they can get the things they need, I write letters, and I sit down every day and work one to one with clients to help them become financially stable.  I feel really good about that.

  The thing I feel the best about is that I have put together a program that is replicable.  I can teach someone to do what I do, they don't have to be me.  So giving notice isn't a scary thought for me.  I'll give them plenty of time to find another me, I'll train that person, and then I'll be moving on with a clear conscience because I've designed a program that can keep making a difference in a lot of people's lives for a long long time after I'm gone from here.

  Stuff: 

  The worst part about getting paid twice a month versus every other week is that sometimes the pay days fall rather inconveniently relative to the days that I would like to have my money.  For instance, I will be paid on Monday.

  Tucker and Michael are looking ahead to summer and they have put in their requests.  They have plans to go shopping tomorrow.  o_0 

  Oh well. 

  Drama: 

  We also had a tragedy yesterday.  When we got home from school, we (and by we I mean Tucker) discovered that the little bird died sometime during the day.  I'm not sure what we did wrong if anything.  To the best of my ability, I made sure that Tucker was taking care of her, and she seemed happy and well enough.  I went back to the pet store and they were mystified as well, there was no sign of ill-health (other than that she was dead.) We were all very sad last night. 

  I know that he would like to replace her right away, but now we are two weeks closer to summer, and I'm planning a move.  I'm gonna explain to Tucker that it would be best if he were to wait until he's back here before getting a new bird.

  AND:

  I'm two steps closer to moving.  Things are clearly not working at the school.  I don't expect things to change with my boss here.  And I can't see any reason to put it off.  I want to go.  It's good for the kids if we go.  We're going. 

  

   

  • 2:51 pm
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