I'm Excited!

I don't think before I had kids you'd ever find me being super excited about a child of mine getting assistance and going to a preschool with other kids with behavioral/ developmental delays (forgive me, I hate the term "special needs", and I really don't know what the correct term is), but today I am so happy and excited for L!  Last week was L's graduation and summer program from preschool.  It was kind of awful.  I should explain....L went to a preschool affiliated with a church and for Christmas they did this adorable singing program during a church service.  L did terrible.  He yelled "momma" through one song, he sat down, ran across the stage, didn't sing or dance like the other kids, etc.  He was by far the kid who was paying attention the least, but there were a few other kids who didn't go with the flow.  One could easily say, this was L's first time at such an event, he was learning.  Well, the summer program proved just the opposite.  Only this time, he was the only kid not paying attention.  The rest of the class all sang and danced (oh by the way, thankfully, this was only done in front of the parents and grandparents rather than the whole church!) and L stood there picking his nose, hands down his pants, lifting his shirt up, and trying to get his hands on the microphone stand.  The first time, it was kind of funny.  This time I left feeling really upset and sad.  I just hated seeing him and how so very clearly he was different from everyone else.  Now, don't get all up in arms that I am that parent who hates her kid to be different.....that is NOT even remotely the case.  I love the fact that L is a little quirky.  I was by no means the normal child.  I suspect A wasn't entirely normal himself.  Normal is so boring!  Mostly, I felt bad for L that it was so evident that he just didn't fit.  It really hit me hard and lit a fire under my butt to pursue the county school for "special" kids (I can barely even stomach that title!"  I had taken him last October to be screened, but they mostly tested intelligence and that is not AT ALL an issue.  L is a ridiculously bright boy.  I figured with his teacher's help (she had mentioned tri county preschool to me at conferences in the winter, but I didn't want to disrupt L's school year and start a new school...that's if they even had a spot for him) and the results, even if not entirely conclusive yet, I had a better leg to stand on.  Earlier this week, L did the more complex screening (what they would have done after the first pre-screening).  Amazingly enough, they saw basically all the same things we have struggled with and his teacher from this year agreed 100%.  I say, "amazingly enough," because there are times when I have worried that I am projecting things on to L and making things worse in my head.  It's always nice to hear that I am not crazy after all.  So he will be going to school 4 days a week for 2 1/2 hours.  The class size is around 12-13 kids and half are on the normal scale of development and half are with L, in that they need some help with behavioral or developmental issues.  This is great for so many reasons, but mostly, it's a start in the right direction for all of us.  Hopefully, with A and I going to therapy and learning ways to cope, discipline, and coordinate and L going to a school on the same page, we have a much better chance at L being successful and making things a little easier for all of us!  Anyway....wanted to share our good news!