Rachel, the Teacher

      Two weeks into the new school year and the note comes home.... Teacher requests conference... I'm thinking what took so long? (longer than in years past).... Guessing the time & date will accompany her home, today. 
      Rachel's 4th grade teacher is an energetic, positive teacher, Ms. Adkins. AND, She has the most wonderful intervention teacher, Ms. Samar. If it weren't for her, my days would be much more complicated and stressful. Rachel ADORES Ms. Samar, as of course, so do I. Rachel gets out of the car, now, by herself in the mornings, not even in tears!
     Every single day until mid-year, last year, I've had to walk Rachel to her classroom. Her first grade teacher told me I was enabling Rachel's crying, etc, by walking her to class. I tried to explain to her that she would NOT get out of the car, if I didn't accompany her. By the end of the year, Mrs. Marshall understood Rachel better & even apologized. When we went back to see her the next year, Mrs. Marshall teared up, hugged Rachel & admitted she had learned more from Rachel than she ever had, from any other student & she was her fav. That's right, Rachel was the teacher. Yes, I stood there & cried. It had been a difficult entrance into the public school setting. We have been blessed with some wonderful teachers.
    One of the hardest things I've had to deal with, is the judgments and criticisms from some, even well meaning, people. I am constantly reminded to never judge anyone. I don't know what their walk has been, or what they are dealing with in their life, right now. Acceptance and a loving attitude mean so much to me. People used to think Rachel's toe-walking was cute... they would smile when they saw her on her toes...lately, those smiles have turned into harsh stares & pointing, as she is growing up and more is "expected" of her. (For those of you that don't know Rachel, she is a "toe-walker"...exactly as sounds..she walks high on her toes a majority of time.) I have noticed a plus for toe-walking... amazing calf muscles!  ;0)
     Thanks for letting me ramble... Off to Ballet this afternoon!

Amelia Bedelia a.k.a. Rachel

      Have you ever read the Amelia Bedelia book series? It's a fun series of books about a girl, named Amelia Bedelia, who is completely literal! The author is Herman Parish. When I read them with my 4 older daughters, we laughed and enjoyed them, thinking this "character" was charmingly naive.... When I started reading them to Rachel, she was as baffled as Amelia Bedelia, and did not get the word plays. I realized Rachel's thinking was quite similar & her interpretation (or lack thereof) of our language is quite different than most of ours.

      We now, lovingly, call some of her "interpretations" & ideas - Rachelisms. I occassionally, just phone one of her older sisters & tell them we have a new Rachelism. I procede to share with them her latest, new to us, way of looking at words, etc. that has prompted me to smiles & even laughter! I do wonder if the writer of Amelia Bedelia had someone close to him with Asperger's or a PDD of some sort. Their thinking is NOT wrong, but different. It's sometimes more accurate than what the "norm" is.

     For instance: In 2nd grade, the first day was filled with learning about their classmates, etc. They each made posters representing themselves. All the children wrote their eye color... blue, green, brown hazel, but Rachel wrote "wite". I questioned why she wrote that instead of blue. She simply pulled her lower eyelids down, to show me most of her eye is white, not blue.  True enough.

     I explained all of this to share her newest Rachelism. Yesterday, she was deep in thought about something when I picked her up from school. She said she had a note. My heart kind of dropped, not knowing what it might be. She said it was a good one. That "We are doing something FUN for our school. WE are having a race." I interpreted this to be a track meet or something similar. She said "I don't know what it is, it might be a race down the hall." I'm driving, trying to think what she could possibly be talking about, as she gets more & more frustrated with me. When we got home, she handed me the packet for her school's Fund Raiser", aka Rachel's Fun Racer. When I tried to explain it, she decided it was called a Fund Raiser because it is Fun. These things wear me out sometimes, but I can only imagine how confusing it is to her. I just nodded & told her maybe so. Some things are just too foreign to explain satisfactorally to her.

Once upon a time....

    Once upon a time.... (September 10, 2000), a beautiful, loved, baby girl was born. She had huge, blue eyes, that immediately seemed to be in search of something... She had extreme reactions to: TOUCH, TASTE, SOUND, SMELLS... She, actually, never took a bottle, thus requiring a feeding tube for nourishment....

      Time was spent in Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children....Her Doctors were somewhat baffled, but continued treating symptoms...Time spent in Halifax Medical Center...Time spent in Wolfson's Children's Hospital... Time spent in Nemour's.... Extreme Failure to Thrive... She spent very little time sleeping... most of her time was spent in apparent distress, manifested by unconsolable crying, screaming, kicking and hitting... As difficult as her symptoms were, she was/is still loved unconditionally...
    
    This is the first posting, I've ever written for a new blog. (Of course, it may seem obvious to you!  ;0)

     I am the priviledged mother of that precious, challenging blessing... my youngest daughter  - Rachel.  She is now, almost 10 years old. Over the past 10 years, I have gained a lot of knowledge regarding a variety of conditions & diagnosis', but still consider myself ignorant in many areas, with more questions than answers. Her diagnosis' have changed, been added too....I will share more at another time.

    What I plan on writing and sharing with you are (1)some of the highs & lows, (2)some of the successes & failures, (3)some  suggestions for those finding themselves in similar roles, as well as, requests for suggestions, (4)some things that lead me to tears & many things that lead me to smile...and even laugh out loud!

     Join me on this journey, will you?.... share with me as you feel like it... I'm hoping this will be a blessing to others, as well as therapeutic for me, a simple mom, that wants the best for my children! I pray this blog to be uplifting, but honest... We were chosen to care for a very special child. She is a gift from the Creator of All, GOD Almighty, and HE doesN'T make mistakes!