a little background

hi, my name is mandy and I have two amazing little boys. My oldest son, Ty, has been diagnosed with autism (which is what you will read most about in this blog); I also have Tripp, who is an amazing little brother to Ty (who you will also hear alot about). I was encouraged to start this blog to document our journey through life and life with autism... my world has been rocked in last few years and i have responded in good ways and bad ... but Jesus has gotten me through all of it...





i hope i can be an encouragement to you, and for the friends and family that will read this - maybe this will keep you posted indepth on what Ty is learning! :) and the adventures of Tripp too





thank you for reading, and if you have any questions, comments or smart remarks; feel free to post them.



Monday, July 6, 2015

the wait after the fight.....

Last Thursday I had my chance to plead my case to the board. It was a really small room, a friend of mine went with me and some other friends who are affected by the new rule were there too. There were parents that I didn't know and some politicians who wanted to hear what the board had to say, I guess that is a regular thing politicians do? I don't really know ... anyway and then there was the board. I introduced myself to each member as they arrived and to the superintendent (we got there really early); and then we waited. The meeting began and they addressed a bunch of random things and signed a bunch of paper work and then came the time I had been waiting for, as I waited for my name to be called I could feel myself starting to shake. I wasn't scared, or even nervous I was just shaky. I had a packet of papers for each board member; in the packet was a letter from his ABA therapist, a letter from me, a copy of the 30 mile rule, and maps of my house measured to the district lines. The reason there was a map and measurements was because by my interpretation and by the interpretation I was given from the man in the State office, I would need measurements from district lines to my house to determine my district. Later I found out this was wrong, because they interpreted the law differently... anyway I can write a whole post on that alone... So they called my name first and before I passed out my paper packets, I told them who I was and showed them a picture of Ty on my phone. I wanted them to see whose education they were deciding on and not just a name on a sheet of paper. I told myself I wasn't going to cry and that I was going to be firm and informative.... yeah well that all went out the window. I was able to tell them who Ty was, where we lived, what all was in their packet of papers, my understanding of the 30 mile rule and then i began to tell them how far he had come and how amazing his teachers and therapists are at North Pike and then my words just stopped.... as much as I didn't want to cry in front of this board, this five member panel, some who couldn't look me in the eye and others I could tell were torn in this decision that laid before them. I struggled to get out my last few points and just sat down... I felt defeated and I really wanted to just crawl under my chair when I was done. But I sat and listened to other parents plead their case. Then the board had an open discussion in front of us and I could see concern in some of them, I could see how they almost looked like it was hurting them to do this... but others seemed to not care and money was brought up, because the district doesn't receive money for transfer students ... well after they talked and one person spoke up to ask if my interpretation of the law was right because as it reads, it could be interpreted that way. He was told no by the superintendent.  Then another board member spoke up and asked if we could all be approved for this year. That way we have time to make plans for the future - well just when I thought we would get the ok, another member suggested tabling the decision in hopes to hear from the attorney general....... so now we wait.....and if you know me, you know I hate to wait.... well as I was leaving the meeting this lady stops me and asks for my phone number. Apparently the girl who I thought was taking minutes for the meeting was a reporter ...and today our story was on the front page of the local paper.... so maybe that will help? I don't really know??? So I guess I'm just asking for prayers.... i know if it comes down to it we can always move... but that's something we are trying to avoid, the short notice, expense of it all, and again changing Ty's environment. .. just some of the things we are trying to keep stable ;) thanks again for reading love yall 

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