This is such an odd time of year at my house. With one child in public school and me being a teacher I get the back to school craze and change of season.
As for the other kiddos, people frequently ask, "Where do they go to school?" or "What grade is he/she in?" They are common questions and milestones we all celebrate, right? Not so much I pulled these kiddos out of public school a long time ago and they attend a full time ABA/Skills Development Program which follows a year round calendar. We don't have 6th grade graduations or school supply shopping. They don't care about the letter that comes in the mail explaining what room you will be in next year and who your teacher is. They don't go shopping for school clothes or a new backpack. We just get what they need as they need it. In fact that is kind of freeing in some ways.
For my ASD angels, we have annual evaluations and meetings to go over goals every 90 days. I love this programming and would never change a thing about my life, but while everyone else is either doing cartwheels as their kids head off to the first day of school or crying as their kindergartner gets on the bus for the first time, it is bittersweet in my house. One more milestone we won't celebrate. We have plenty of things to cheer about as I have written about many times- we measure our life in terms of progress and smiles. Read more here: http://wheresyourpantsautism.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-do-you-measure-progress.html
I followed my other daughter's bus all the way to her first day and took pictures as she happily skipped into school. For the other two we drive an hour one way just to get them where they need to be. Again, I love this programming and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, but this time of year tugs at my heart strings. We have worked hard to pave our own way to make sure my kids all have an opportunity to learn and meet their maximum potential and remain happy. They don't even have IEP's so I don't have that frustration that I read and sympathize with when I peruse the posts by my fellow autism parent bloggers.
It isn't bad, just weird. I guess that sums it up. I have never been the kind of person who easily fits into one sterotype so I guess this seems like the right path for us. Why do "back to school" like everyone else right?
PS- I still have drawers of school supplies. I cannot help it. I love a new pencil and notebook!
