{Warning...wordy, wordy, wordy...}
I'm struggling to think of a title for this post.
The first thing that comes to my mind
is the word...
EMPATHY.
Everything happens for a reason...
my entire life I've had to deal with my hearing loss.
I can assure you,
I have a PhD in Empathy!
For as long as I can remember,
I've ask WHAT & not WHY
Although...
I am sure I did go through the "Why ME" phase,
no doubt.
But because of my mother...
for many, many years I have asked God...
WHAT do you want me to do with this?
My mother always,
ALWAYS
made sure that I was going to be living a normal life!
I could sit here & type story after story...
but the point is,
she kicked my behind up & down...
there was no pity party at my house!
You WILL do it,
you CAN do it...
& you will NOT let your hearing
keep you from doing it!
Hard work pays off,
always...
It has nothing to do with ears!
***************
Now, I'm a mommy
& it's my turn to cancel the pity party!
I know I've mentioned several times that
our sweet Sneaky E has dyslexia.
I've had dozens of people who love our little E
ask me details about
WHERE he is going to school,
HOW we got him tested,
WHEN did we know there was something wrong...
I thought I would just blog about it and
maybe that would help someone else who was
struggling with a similar situation...
because I can assure you,
I have prayed
& I have struggled
(especially with that "trust & obey" thing here).
It's one of those times that I indeed felt
like God had a plan for him &
the path led him RIGHT where he is now!
************************
We began noticing things back when E was about four.
I was determined that he was going to be reading early,
because there was no younger child
under him to distract me from teaching him!
My other two kids got the "one leg out the door" version,
as I was trying to keep that little rat from tearing stuff up or hurting himself while trying to teach them to read...I'm sure Miss O will tell her therapist all about it in a few years...she is bitter (ha)...
Well, with E one day he would know every letter of the alphabet,
the next day he couldn't tell you any of them.
It was odd,
but I dismissed this as "he's a boy" & immaturity.
but I dismissed this as "he's a boy" & immaturity.
My baby sister was a reluctant (cough, cough) reader...
she was stubborn &
learned it when she was good & ready. ;)
When we decided to wait a year to start E in kindergarten,
my mother was very upset!
She came out to give me a talking to about it
(cause she can still do that...you know, "granny law")
so I sent her upstairs to have a
little schooling session with him.
She came back down 10 minutes later
& plopped down in a chair & exclaimed
"HE is just like Kimberly!!"...
But yet, he wasn't.
So,
off to kindergarten he finally went...
still having the same issues with letters,
sounds, etc....
By Christmas we determined that there was more to it
than just immaturity & decided we needed to have him tested.
We had a few options here.
Because we were at a private school,
(& they don't offer those services)
we could contact the public school we were zoned for
& get him tested that way (for free).
As a former public school teacher,
I knew this wasn't going to be a quick thing...
so, I started looking for other routes.
There is a dyslexia center at MTSU &
I heard wonderful things about them but...
they could not get him seen about immediately
(& this was something I didn't want to wait on any longer).
Thus, leading us to the Diagnostic Center at
Currey Ingram Academy in Nashville.
It was a bit expensive, but worth the money!
(it was also the most beautiful school I've ever been in)
We got him tested & knew a solid diagnosis in less than a month.
Plus, it was not a TRAUMATIC event for E.
It took me years & years & YEARS to recover from (did I really ever?) the trauma of having my hearing tested & going to different doctors & facilities & feeling like I was a dummy & a weirdo when I just wanted to be a regular, normal kid. In my opinion, it was worth the money to pay to have E avoid all of that. In his mind we just went to visit Miss Amy & she asked him a few questions & gave him a cool snack.
This was a HUGE help for E's kindergarten teacher,
as she was able to make accommodations for him.
I'm pretty sure he didn't think a thing
was wrong with him because Ms Pam made sure he was successful!
(thank you, Ms Pam...we love you so much)
Well, kindergarten came to a close &
we were torn trying to make a decision about
returning to the private school our kids all attend.
This was what E was DETERMINED to do,
so I was determined to help him be able to stay there.
{insert sidebar crazy story here}
I hoped he could work over the summer & be ready to keep up with the demands of private school first grade.
But, just in case...
I requested permission for him to attend a public school that we were not zoned for (but was exceptional, had programs for dyslexia students AND convenient for a crazy mommy driving three kids around.) They granted our out of zone request, I tried & tried to talk E into going.
He cried & cried & cried...
I wilted.
I should have just MADE him go,
but for some reason I didn't
(I find out later, it was God telling me don't make him).
So we gave up our spot.
Started school at private school.
Teachers working so hard to help him.
But, little E is just too far behind.
It was just in his best interest to move him.
He was crying a lot,
saying he was sick
& even one day told his teacher he'd thrown up
so that he could go home. :(
I [bake & take gifts] go back to the public school
to see if we can move him....
now, they don't have room
to accept an out of zone student.
Ok...
Pray.
Pray & pray some more...
{crazy sidebar story continues}
Another week passes...
when I run in to a friend who's daughter was
attending the same private school as ours.
(accidental meeting? I think not)
She had been through a similar situation
having trouble with reading
(& crying & faking illnesses...)
& they ended up moving her to the county school
that they are zoned for so that she could get help
& she LOVES it there!
(which is the same county school WE are zoned for also).
She raved & raved about this teacher they had...
Ms Golden.
I'm sorry that this school was not my first choice for E.
Basically because I wasn't thinking about what was best for E,
I was thinking about ME...
((cone of shame))
We live 1.4 miles from the private school...
a three minute drive.
I hate to drive.
(if you spent as much time in car as I do...)
This school is 13 minutes away
(yeah, I timed it).
I contacted the principal, sweet Carol Farrell.
I used to teach with her in MJ back in the day...
she's amazing!!
I want to be her when I grow up!
Turns out she has a first grade teacher in mind for E;
Ms Golden...
(the name just clearly tells you prayers are going to be answered, no?)
This teacher has a daughter with dyslexia &
a masters degree in reading disabilities...
She invites us out to observe in her classroom.
Off we go.
We have tons of neighbors &
even a sprinkle of kin folk at this school.
Both E & I are feeling pretty good about this.
We walk in to Ms Golden's classroom...
right there immediately see an EMPTY DESK...
placed RIGHT NEXT TO
my cousin's cute little red headed son!
{leaving me speechless, as clearly this crazy path was God's plan leading this stinker biscuit child right to that empty desk!!!}
E informs me immediately that he's not leaving.
The rest, is history. ;)
A week at this school &
my little guy is already thriving
& he's smiling a lot more
& he's hugging us a lot more...
he's really happy!
& I am feeling so blessed,
because I know God is going to
take care of this kid...
he has a plan for Sneaky E!
I'm incredibly honored to be along for the ride!
I'll keep y'all posted.
If you're still reading down here
(you must be Nana or Grandma, ha).
Thank you, we appreciate y'all so much.
Mwah!
♥ ♥ ♥
♥ ♥ ♥
Go, Sneak E!
Watch out, Dyslexia...
you are SO going down!!
