Hurry up and wait

I've got a lot to share with you, but just haven't had the time to sit down and blog about it, or to upload pictures from our vacation, which was wonderful. So, until I have some uplifting bloggy stuff, allow me to vent my frustration regarding the competency of the state run speech and occupational therapy department.

I've already spent several thousand dollars out of pocket on speech therapy for J, and would do so again in a heartbeat, but since there is a free service available to all school age children in the state, I decided that we should go ahead and take advantage of it when his teacher approached me about it back at the beginning of the school year. That week I called to set an appointment, and waited and waited to hear back from someone. Just about the time that I'd given up hope, I finally got a voice mail asking me to come to the school board for an evaluation... that was more than 2 months ago. The therapist there was delightful, experienced, gave me some idea of the progress that needed to be made in order for J to be successful in school, and then mentioned that she'd also like for him to meet with someone in the OT department, and that they'd call to set that appointment just as soon as possible.

Just as soon as possible happened to be today. Two months later, and just a month before the end of the school year. Today's appointment was a total waste of time, in my opinion. The girl didn't even have all of her supplies with her. She was not very encouraging or engaging with J, and relied more on my oral history than any sort of 'evaluation'. She did toss a ball with him, and did try and get him to use a pair of scissors, and she had him try and copy a few shapes.

We signed another sheet of paper and was told to wait for the next phone call to meet with the next phase, whatever that phase may be. I've been working on this since the first six weeks of school and now it looks like we won't even get started until next year. I asked the girl if they worked through the summer vacation, and whether J would be able to get started before next school year. She was clueless. And until they finish shuffling their paper and scratching their asses, I can't apply for the necessary scholarship to get him the help he needs in public school, so Kindergarten will be a total waste of time. Homeschooling sounds like a better option with every passing day. I have no confidence in our school system or any of it's related services at this point.

And as if he's not far enough behind the eight ball here, he's also zoned into one of the most failing elementary schools in the county. I can either put him in private school, or I can let him fail a year and then have the freedom to move him to another public school. Some decision...

I know I sound pretty negative right now, but it's hard to remain positive when someone tells you that your child is in the 9th percentile for motor function, that he needs some pretty heavy therapy, and yet, you'll just have to sit and wait.

In order to lift my spirits a little we stopped on the way home and picked up a few new plants for the garden. Digging in the dirt is sure to make me feel better.