First Day of School

 After countless phone calls and e-mails (and discovering that the director of special education for our district knows Teddy by name and personality) and an IEP meeting two days before school started, we had our plan in place for Teddy's education this year. We're still working on approvals for outpatient therapy (particularly getting OT extended and speech approved for the school year), but thankfully PT is set for the rest of the calendar year. Teddy has settled back into his music therapy sessions without missing a beat. (Pun intended.) Our childcare provider is working with him on academic activities daily at home, which he's excited to do because it's new materials to explore. It's super fun to watch him concentrate on an activity because his tongue either juts out of his mouth or into his bottom lip, so it's easy to tell when he's truly focused. 

This week was the first week Teddy went to school for his academic time. If you recall, we had advocated for homebound education for Teddy due to all the risk factors, but that was oddly enough deemed too risky by the school district. So, we're doing homebound at school, which means that twice a week Teddy goes for 1:1 instruction in a designated room. We had coordinated with his team where that room is located, how it would be sanitized and that PPE would be worn by his teacher. 

We felt comfortable with all the pre-work done as his school designated a room immediately inside the building, so Teddy doesn't have access to take off to explore the rest of his school. His team even took the time to explain, without us asking, the two different levels of cleaning products they will use to sanitize the room prior to Teddy's time learning there. Still, I was a bit surprised when his teacher commented on the first day of school about his PPE and pleasantly surprised when he sent a photo at the end of the day.

Guys, Teddy's teacher wore full personal protective equipment (PPE) to teach Teddy. He wore the same level of PPE that is used for interacting with known COVID positive cases in medical settings (aside from a cloth vs. surgical mask). He wore a mask, face shield, gown and gloves. While this might seem like overkill (and candidly was more than we were expecting), this all but ensures that even if Teddy's teacher has COVID that Teddy would not be exposed to it. And you might not be able to tell from the picture, but I can tell you that his teacher did this with a smile to support Teddy with his learning. 

Teddy was a bit intrigued by the PPE but still had a great session.

Right now it feels like our world is returning to normal with little regard for those who are most vulnerable to COVID. We often feel like we're in the minority in doing the right things like wearing a mask, physically distancing and keeping a small social footprint, but we don't feel like we have a choice to keep Teddy safe. That gets disheartening, but the effort made by his school and team to safely educate Teddy truly gives me hope and warms my heart. He matters to them. His education. His safety. They're working with us to make it safe for Teddy to be in this world, and we are so grateful for their support. 

Often I hear of how people are tired of the PPE they have to wear to do their jobs. I'm sure that no teacher expected to wear a mask to school, much less full PPE like this. Life is different right now. It won't always be different, but we'll always be different because of it. We'll forever remember the helpers and those who eased the stress of these challenging times. (And we'll probably at least know how to properly wash our hands.)