Back to School Part 2

Today was Teddy's first day back to school, although school started September 1. The reason is he's doing a modified program again this year due to COVID. Essentially he's doing homebound education due to the fact that he cannot wear a mask for an entire day, he puts everything into his mouth to chomp on it and licks random things and has a propensity for seizures when he's ill (and licking things, putting other people's stuff into your mouth and improper mask wearing are all great ways to get ill particularly with COVID making a resurgence). 

Teddy's already a third grader!

So his school program looks similar to last year where he will have 30-minute blocks of time 1:1 with his teacher twice a week for academics. Do we wish it was more time? Absolutely! Is an hour of 1:1 instruction a week a really good starting point for Teddy? Yes. His childcare provider supplements that education with activities at home, either ones provided by school or ones we create. Truly any sort of play with Teddy can incorporate the concepts he'd work on in the school setting, and she has the time to do that when she's alone with him for the day.

Although this is another weird academic year for Teddy, honestly every year is weird for him. He changes grades without changing teachers or rooms, aside from the classroom where he integrates. (And right now, that's non-existent with his hybrid education last year and this.) It's always weird, but in some ways it's easier because we have the same teacher and similar structure. But it never quite feels like he's advancing a grade the way it does for AJ.

Additionally, rather than try to coordinate with all his school therapists, we are continuing with outpatient services for occupational, speech and physical therapy. We trust their protocols and know he's getting quality therapy and more of it than he would in the school setting, so it works for right now. He's also doing music therapy, which he enjoys (most days) and builds on all his goals. 

New this year is adapted physical education. At Teddy's IEP last month, we met his new adapted PE teacher. They discussed the activities sent home last year, which we never did because they weren't quite adapted to Teddy and frankly were overwhelmed with everything else for at-home learning. During that discussion, we brainstormed the idea of Teddy attending his adapted PE classes as a way to begin reintegrating. It's one of his favorite things, so we knew he'd love it. It's also a setting where the kids are in a big room, and there's plenty of adults to assist Teddy in keeping his distance for things like stretching and wearing a mask properly. It's a short enough time (less than 30 minutes) that Teddy can, for the most part, successfully stay masked. 

Today was his first day for his 1:1 instruction with his teacher, as well as his adapted PE class. Trust me, the PE class is as much for reintegrating Teddy to prepare him for returning completely once he's vaccinated as it is for us as parents. We both have some anxiety because we know the vaccine won't provide Teddy the same measure of protection as it provides others. Given his diagnosis, the vaccine will still be effective to some degree, but it's hard to say how much protection it will provide. That certainly makes us uneasy, yet we realize at some point we need to find the balance if COVID never goes away completely. 

Let's just say today was a success for adapted PE. He was super excited to attend today and may have tried to drag his teacher back to the gym when it was over. I'm still waiting to hear if he tried to drag his teacher to the gym when he returned later in the day for his 1:1 instruction.