Extended school year, moving, positive stuff

Today, I attended a meeting at my daughter's school to discuss the extended school year program.  Caitlin's teacher, Ms. Griest, went through all of the reasons why kids go through the extended school year program, most of which are academic.  It made me very happy to learn that none of those reasons applied to my kid, in spite of all of the school she missed this year.  She is progressing fine academically.  The main reason her school is recommending summer school for Caitlin involves behavioral issues caused by transitions.  Caitlin's behavior regresses when she takes long breaks from school (spring break, winter break, and summer break are the worst).

However, I'm moving in June.  The teacher is still giving me the recommendation, so hopefully I can take it to the new school district and get her enrolled there.  If it doesn't happen, there are other resources to explore in Pennsylvania, but it would be nice to get her acclimated to the new school environment.  I'll definitely be getting her private therapy after we move, and hopefully, somewhere to swim on a regular basis.  She loves swimming.  It's too late to get her into the camp this year, but one of the camps offers music therapy.  She showed excellent progress in a music therapy class in Michigan, so it would be great to give that another try. 

A few good things from the meeting: one, her teachers and principal just love her.  She might not be able to have a conversation, but she does comprehend things.  For another thing, she can type (she just seems unwilling to do so at home), and she likes it when people type messages for her to read while she's looking over their shoulder.  What I'd like to do is use a chat client (maybe develop one or find a free one) and type messages to her on her laptop, then see where that goes.  Finally, they expressed to my fiancee, who came with me to the meeting, that Caitlin got excited when talking about her.  

One more thing about Caitlin's school year that I brought up in the meeting was that I was happy to hear that Caitlin was instrumental in bringing another girl who was socially isolated out of her shell as the school year progress.  She hadn't been talking with anyone, didn't have friends, and didn't participate in class, but because of interaction with Caitlin, she slowly became more social.  Now she has friends and participates in class.  

Inspiration from the North

On July 25th, in the midst of the Michael Savage autism spin, I received an email from Leah Bortolotti from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Her daughter, Sophia, has autism. Her son, Josh, has become a prominent national figure in Canada, and he's only fourteen. The following article details what he did at age eleven on behalf of his sister and every child in Canada with autism:

<http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=10cb2740-0200-4e77-8c6f-973c83f26922>

Here is Leah's description of her son's activism to date:

"Our neurotypical 14-year-old son, Josh, has been single-handedly doing an autism fundraiser annually for the past 4 years (door-to-door pledges) and has now raised just over $20,000 for autism charities. The past two years have been for Autism Speaks. He advocates on every level for his baby sister, and has been recognized here in Canada in national newspapers, CTV National Television News, and most recently as a runner up in 2008 Canada's Top 20 Under 20 Awards. His unselfish motivation has graced him with some friendships of important people that are impressed with his accomplishments, and brought more awareness to ASD. He has become friends with Nickelback, Rich Little, and other Canadian celebrities."

I hope this young man's story and that of his family moves you as it has moved me.