IEPs, transitions, and moving on

3 years ago my little man entered the world of special needs preschool. I have always been thrilled with his services and can never believe that people have trouble with their child's school. Elijah has therapy at school 1x a week for each therapy, goes to adaptive gym at "the big school," and rides the bus to/from school. He attends full time...4 days a week, for full days. When he started I was worried that more time in school than home (it seemed that way, isn't really I know) would hinder progress and that he would have a difficult time coping. Yes, I will not sugar coat it...it has been TOUGH. When you have a multi-disabled child, every worry is ALWAYS THERE. I worry about feeding, potty breaks, having friends, having, fun, and most importantly LEARNING. We had a rough time after his Cochlear Implant failed (after his dx of Autism, we elected to not use it because of the overload of sound) I was scared that he'd never be able to communicate. Monday I did what I've been dreading for 6 years. You see, Elijah has now "aged out" of preschool, so we are preparing to transition to school age services. I was TERRIFIED, like wanting-to-puke terrified that I was going to have to fight tooth and nail like I've heard so many times. But I was so very pleasantly surprised. Our meeting consisted of 9-11 people that were talking about my boy. His teacher, therapists, teacher for the deaf, school psychologist, special Ed people, and a few others. While I will not go into his particulars, I will say this. Everyone is on the same page. Everyone knows what Elijah needs. I am confident in his home district, and the Sepcial education school he will likely spend his educational career. I know that it will more than likely be impossible to ever have him in an inclusion setting. I know he will always need help, more than most children. Unless you've set through an IEP of his degree you'll never understand the feeling that I had to go through. This is not self pity, this is cold, hard fact. In a world where I am his voice, more than once I caught myself tearing up. I tried to keep my emotions in check. I tried to put on that poker fighting face, in case I needed to fight. I didn't have to fight though. Everyone already knew what he needed and was doing everything in their power to make it come to fruition. I left the meeting at peace. I left knowing that everyone cared for him almost as much as I do, and just want what's best for him. With any luck, the transition to "the big school" will be a success. When you have a deaf, non verbal child, you just NEVER know what to expect. Keep us in mind in the coming months, as I transition one child to a new school and FINGERS CROSSED another into school. E.