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, August 17, 2015

Today is a good day!

Today my boys are in school! 7 days behind the others, but in school so I should just be grateful.... The end ... right?

Don't get me wrong, today is a good day, a really good day! Because I finally got to tell my 6 year old, who has been begging to go to school with his big brother, that he could go. He did a happy dance last night because he was so excited and then woke up and asked me again "do I really get to go to school today?" I just answered "yes, buddy".

Some of you might be thinking "why not just move into the district?" or "maybe you should file your paperwork sooner". Well I sent my paper work in to be released based on the 30 mile rule back in March. The North Pike board didn't act on it until July. (I'm sure there is a rule or something for why?) For those that ask why not just move? Well we had very little notice and were strung along on the possibility that this would be fixed and we had no reason to think this year would be any different than any other year as far as being released and accepted out of one and into another district. When we planned on having kids, we never planned on needing a public school. We planned on sending our kids to the private school. So it's not like we planned on living in just the right strategic location to not pay taxes and reap the benefits, I mean if that were the case we should be 1 mile in a different direction?!

Because it's that 1 mile that started all of this, we are 1 mile closer to another school in an adjacent district....so because of this mile nothing else matters. The fact that I have letters stating that it would be detrimental to Ty's education to move him didn't matter. Some of you may be thinking well he's just in the second grade. You are right. But he has been coming to this school since he was 3 for early intervention. Even though most of his early intervention therapies were done in Hattiesburg at USM, he started at North Pike and has been familiar with the school because of it. So he really is established here. He is loved here. His teachers and the faculty and staff here know him and love him. He thrives in his class room. He has friends. Those friends greeted him today with open arms! They all yelled "Ty!!!!" as he walked in the door. His teacher has expectations for him, she challenges him, speaks his language and encourages him to be who he is! And that alone is worth fighting for. So for now... today.... it's a good day. My boys are in school, Tripp is right down the hall from Ty in class with an amazing teacher and friend! I am excited to see what this year holds for my boys. Because it was a heck of a ride so far.

I received my special release Thursday night, showed up Friday morning with my registration paperwork and dropped it off. Penton tried to give us the run around on when we could register and did his best to make this as difficult as possible. But I will say that staff has been very kind and helpful through this process.

For those that ask, what about next year? I'll get back to you on that, right now I will bask in His glory and this victory... I feel like I have been wrestling a bear for a few months and just won.