5/6/10

Good News/Strange News

I heard back from the school district yesterday. They have completed the reports for Charlie's evaluation and are going to have me come look at them in the next few days.

They have scheduled his ARD for May 18th. That stands for Admission, Review, Dismissal and is a meeting they have with parents and key players when making decisions about a student's IEP (Individualized Education Plan). It means, in short, that they have finally decided to offer special ed services/supports for him.

Our foot is in the door.

I have no idea what they're going to try to put into his IEP or if the services they offer will be appropriate for his needs, but they've essentially admitted that Charlie needs help.

Now on to the odd bit.

The neurologist's office called yesterday to say that the genetic screening for me came back. The results show that I have the same chromosomal deletion that Charlie presents. We're supposed to meet with a geneticist to learn what that means.

Learning that just felt odd. Weighty. The teeniest bit guilty, even if that is irrational.

One of my imaginary friends put it this way yesterday:

Well, I kinda look at it like this-you and Dowlan made Charlie and he is the guy he is supposed to be.

He has your love of asparagus and Dowlan's eye's-your hair color and Dowlan's temperament- the same quirkiness as you and the same predisposition to diabetes or heart disease or any other of a million things that happen to the human body during the process of Life that he inherited from his father.

It is what it is.

You cannot help the DNA that you pass to your children any more than your parents can for what they handed to you.

3 comments:

Firefighter/Paramedic Uncle Trey said...

Good luck with the TLAs. (Three Letter Acronyms)

Anonymous said...

Gretchen and Dowlan,

You have been very patient yet persistent in all of this, and it is finally paying off.

Proud of you both - Love, Papa

barefoot gardener said...

Good luck, dear.