I'm In

How do you relay this with mixed emotions? Let’s just say that I even had the psychologist boggled. Here’s how the story goes…

Today was part two of Trey’s testing process to be screened for “priority preschool” – a preschool that integrates special need’s children with regular students. The benefits of this program is that the class is small, the teaching staff consists of 1 classroom teacher, 2 para professionals and 2 rotating specialists (OT,PT or ST). Also, this program is funded by the state and will provide transportation to and from our front door.



So, after sitting down with the psychologist answering his questions along with Trey’s meeting with a preschool case manager and speech therapist answering their questions and performing tasks to evaluate his ‘needs’, it was determined that Trey does meet the qualifications of the state and was accepted into the Priority Preschool Program. The professionals relayed to me that Trey would receive help in adaptive skills, motor skills, cognitive skills as well as communication (articulation, expressive and vocabulary) skills. The one area he didn’t need help with was his social skills – that’s our boy, “Mr. Busy”.



Down come the “flood of emotions”. When the psychologist expressed that based on what he was hearing from me alone, apart from what the other two ladies’ test results come back as, “Trey meets the criteria and will be accepted into the program”, I began to cry. My tears confused the gentleman as he asked, “are you not ready to see your child go off to school?” What he doesn’t realize is that, this is so hard to hear as a parent. Aside from all the great help that will be provided, it is still hard to accept. And about all the emotion’s that came pouring out from my head and heart, onto the table in the form of tears…well, they come from the reality and acknowledgment of me hearing a professional say that our child is effected enough to be accepted into a special needs program, that, “Yes, your child has special needs”. Like any parent, all you pray for is a normal, healthy baby and when the path is different from that of which you know (the easy one), the reactions come from a deeper part of you, an especially emotional place.



Knowing that is was the right decision and hearing about all the help this curriculum will afford Trey confirms that we made the right decision but it doesn’t mean it’s not a hard ‘pill to swallow’. Realizing the benefits that this school will offer and seeing Trey’s face when he was told that he was going to get to ride the bus like his big brothers, Drake and Broc, made all the screening’s, tests, paperwork and waiting so well worth it. Trey will start school on July 27th just like his big brothers!