It seems like we have been thinking about and talking about Rowan starting preschool forever. Finally the day came. I was somewhat sad to not be there to put him on his 'bus' (van), but at the same time don't know if my heart could have taken it!
Linda was great, seeing him off to the van and calling me at work with a report, then again with another report after his arrival back at daycare. Rowan was happy to be greeted by all of his friends at daycare after getting off the van that first day, they all helped him off with his winter gear and were happy to see him. Luckily the tears were only present on the first day, and after that he has been showing excitement about going to "Rowan's school", even showing off his Buzz and Woody backpack at daycare.
Rowan's new teacher let me know that he was sad for a little while on his first day, but got into the swing of things when he started playing. He has been pretty quiet there. Jeff and I had told her that she probably won't hear much out of him initially, it takes him so long to feel comfortable in a place enough to talk. Hopefully he'll get talking soon there. We are hearing a lot more talking at home, and more and more words coming together in sentences (Daddy, move over, Rowan's spot! was an unusually long sentence I heard today).
Rowan has 2 disabilities (I hate that word) listed on his IEP (individual education plan). Speech/Language Delay and Developmental Delay. The meaning of speech/language delay is pretty obvious. Technically, developmental delay means a measurable delay in development, or not meeting developmental milestones. Rowan has a hard time processing directions, and so has a hard time when asked to do something that isn't familiar to him. As a first grade teacher, I have some unique insight on developmental delays that other parents might not have. That is because at age 7, children in special ed are reevaluated because the DD diagnosis no longer applies. I have seen this happen with many of my students over the years. In some cases, students test out of special ed and no longer require the extra help. In other cases, students are tested and found to have additional needs, at which point they are no longer classified at DD, but may be diagnosed on the autism spectrum or with a learning disability. Unfortunately for many of the students that have been DD, many of them did not
get much early childhood help because a problem was not caught until right before starting school at the preschool screening.
We are giving Rowan every bit of help we can now through the school and private therapy clinic and work at home to hopefully catch him up with everything by the time he hits kindergarten.
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