Meet Michelle. She (and husband, Rusty) are parents to Sean. Sean has a bilateral hearing loss. He will be going into middle school this month (insert a shudder! Just kidding…) Michelle also happens to be a Speech-Language Pathologist in the same district where Sean attends. I asked Michelle about “The First Day.”
Q: What do you do to get ready for Sean going back to school?
A: The main thing is keeping in contact with his service providers. I’ll be in touch with the district audiologist to see what type of amplification system is right for him since he’ll be changing classes. After he gets his schedule, I plan to call a meeting, not necessarily an IEP meeting, but a ‘this is my kiddo’ meeting so they have a good idea of what makes him tick….the best ways to approach ideas with him, etc. At that meeting I want to make sure the autism consultant and his DHH [Deaf/Hard of Hearing] teacher are present.
He attended Blue Jacket Boot Camp where the rising 6th graders got to go to the middle school for a tour of where their classrooms and lockers are. [Editor’s Note: Sean’s comment about this was “I made a couple of new friends!” WhooHoo for orientations!] They also got to go through the lunch line…(for Sean that’s a major stressor.) Because I teach at an elementary school and we start before he has to be at school, I am working on finding transportation for him to get to school and back.
How do you get your kids ready for school? Jump over to Beginnings SC’s Facebook page and let us know.