The Beginning of the End

So today I had my very last IEP for the year and it was the biggest IEP/meeting that I've had in a long, long time. It could possibly rank as the most "included" and detailed meeting I've ever had to participate in. This meeting was for my student who has a vision impairment. As a rule, sped teachers are not trained in vision or hearing impairments. We are trained and able to teach children with any other disability, but those two domains are a speciality. So the district I've worked for has had a vision consultant come in monthly this whole year to consult with me and help to train me. Just recently, another specialist which we call an orientation and mobility specialist came in to observe this child and be able to give input on him navigating around the school campus. So at this IEP, we have these two consultants, the mom, me, the OT, the sped director, the speech teacher, and the two assistant principals. I put alot of thought and effort into writing this child's IEP for several different reasons. Number 1 I know I won't be there next year and I know how long it took me to "get used" to working with and educating a blind child. I don't want that much time to go by another year while a new teacher figures things out. So I wrote his IEP so that anyone could pick it up and know about him and know what to do with him. I also wrote it that way because that is how we are trained to write them. What if he were to move to a new district? The people in that district would need to be able to know exactly who, what, when, where and why when dealing with not just this child, but any child with special needs. But since he is such a special case, I put some extra TLC into writing his IEP/profile/goals. When the meeting was over, it was one of those reliefs where you realize you haven't been breathing the whole time and finally let out the breath you've been holding for two hours. So when the sped director walks by and pats me on the back and says "good job Barbie" and then when the O&M specialist says "that's the best IEP I've ever seen" and when the mom says "thank you for taking care of my baby's needs" it just put everything into perspective for me that this IEP could very well be the last IEP I ever do. I say this due to the upcoming job change. So I get emotional and have to excuse myself and get a grip on what life is for me at the moment. It's just frustrating that things have worked out like they have, but at the same time I'm really excited about the career change. So I realized after this IEP meeting that today is the beginning of the end of what is known of my special education career.

Having the most wonderful husband a girl could ask for, I come home and lay my head in his lap and just let the tears flow. There really were no words for what I was feeling and there were no words he could really say. It was just a time to let some emotions go. And that I did.......

When Sid was finally able to talk to me he reassured me that too many good things were happening for this not to be a God thing and that he felt like God was opening doors for me to be able to enter the sped arena in a whole new way. Actually, he's right. Because now I can talk to parents and help them out and give them all the input they need to get the right services from the school system.

And what's a girl to do when she's having such an emotional Friday afternoon......why, go shopping of course. Peeples is having a HUGE sale this weekend where everything in the store is on sale and then you get another 20% off your whole purchase. I got $370 worth of new clothes for a mere $207 tax and all. Now, Sid isn't home so he doesn't know these purchases were made. I'm sure he'll be just as happy over my savings as I am. I don't try on clothes in the store, so after getting stuff home and trying it on, some will go back and not be swapped just because I don't like the item on me. But I'm keeping most of it, hopefully! Maybe he'll see things my way and let me keep my new purchases. It really was a good deal, don't you think?

I'm trying to upload some pictures for a slide show and so maybe that'll be posted soon.

Right now, I'm still home alone and I think I'll go to bed early. Tomorrow is the princess bday party so we are headed to Bama early in the morning. Or maybe I'll watch Dateline because I usually don't get to watch it.....Sid hates Dateline!