Elder Daughter started in her special program this week. She goes into Central Office for two hours every day to work on a distance learning Biology class, which is also going to give her time to work on her two incompletes from the fall at her other school.
She does seem perkier, though how much of that is the new meds and how much is just having something to do outside the house on a regular basis I'm not sure. I'm also not sure if I care much.
So on to dealing with Younger Daughter's issues.
It doesn't help that she's been genuinely sick most of the time since last November. The school really doesn't want her in if she's running a fever or throwing up. But she's lost over 50 days already, and we're only 3/4 of the way through the year. So now she doesn't want to go to school at all since she's positive (probably correctly) that she'll have to repeat the year, so why bother? Add in that all the classes "are boring except for math which is frustrating", and it's recipe for disaster. She's also depressed. I checked with her and found that she hasn't been in touch with any of her friends in over two weeks. This is the girl who needed to have her cell pried from her hand and thank God I had the unlimited texting plan, or we'd be so past broke. So I've made her an appointment with the therapist who is seeing her sister, but they don't have any new patient slots until May. I've also got a call in to get her in to the psychiatrist, who may have openings sooner, and she'll probably need to see them both anyway.
We're also going to see the regular doctor on Monday, because if we can get a piece of paper with even a tentative official diagnosis on it, the schools will have to do certain things and won't be able to do certain others. And that may make my life easier, since I've already got them threatening me with the truancy officer. I have an unfortunate suspicion that part of the problem is the family tendency to be way off to the far right of the IQ bell curve (Based on my GRE results, I could join the Triple Nine Society, and I'm probably average for my family) which makes a lot of stuff at normal grade level boring because it's too easy, and also by high school makes it much harder to make oneself spend time on things one has no interest in.
I need lots of money so I can find a good private or boarding school which works on interest and ability more than age/grade designations.
I guess I better go off and buy a few of those Powerball tickets for tonight.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Dealing with the schools
My eldest daughter is now officially Special Ed.
It's about time. There have been signs for the last 10 years, but since she's bright enough to be able to learn without studying, and since she wasn't disruptive, no one really cared. And since I was an odd duck through school, I didn't realize things were that bad until very recently.
It took getting her into a school program which put enough stress on her to bring it out, including the behavioural issues. I'm happy that we found all this out before she hit college. I'm not happy that the schools missed it all these years.
I've signed all the papers so the schools can do their psychological testing, and we're also going to try to get to the neuropsychologist that the psychiatrist recommends, but I need to see if our insurance will pay for it. I've had other issues where insurance refused to pay because the school system was supposed to be doing it.
Having not gone to school for over two months, she's starting back on Tuesday in an alternative program, mostly computer but at a school facility with teachers present to help kids when they have questions or problems, and also to work to keep them on task. Not totally surprisingly, she's not totally impressed, though she is happy to have a tentative diagnosis.
She's getting special ed since she meets four of the five criteria for an "Emotional Disorder" (you only need to meet one). But the further testing is because the psychiatrist is considering Asperger's, which may have been exacerbated by several concussions over the years.
Joy.
It's about time. There have been signs for the last 10 years, but since she's bright enough to be able to learn without studying, and since she wasn't disruptive, no one really cared. And since I was an odd duck through school, I didn't realize things were that bad until very recently.
It took getting her into a school program which put enough stress on her to bring it out, including the behavioural issues. I'm happy that we found all this out before she hit college. I'm not happy that the schools missed it all these years.
I've signed all the papers so the schools can do their psychological testing, and we're also going to try to get to the neuropsychologist that the psychiatrist recommends, but I need to see if our insurance will pay for it. I've had other issues where insurance refused to pay because the school system was supposed to be doing it.
Having not gone to school for over two months, she's starting back on Tuesday in an alternative program, mostly computer but at a school facility with teachers present to help kids when they have questions or problems, and also to work to keep them on task. Not totally surprisingly, she's not totally impressed, though she is happy to have a tentative diagnosis.
She's getting special ed since she meets four of the five criteria for an "Emotional Disorder" (you only need to meet one). But the further testing is because the psychiatrist is considering Asperger's, which may have been exacerbated by several concussions over the years.
Joy.
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Oh. My.
Google maps has updated their photos of Isola del Giglio in Italy since last year.
View Larger Map
See where it says Giglio Porto? Look just north of the text at that strange light blob. That's the Costa Concordia.
If I lived on Isola del Giglio, I'd be pretty pissed.
12-12-13: I'm going to try to get a screen cap, as the map this links to is updated. As of today you can still see the Costa Concordia, as well as all the salvage vessels around it. It's still huge.
View Larger Map
See where it says Giglio Porto? Look just north of the text at that strange light blob. That's the Costa Concordia.
If I lived on Isola del Giglio, I'd be pretty pissed.
12-12-13: I'm going to try to get a screen cap, as the map this links to is updated. As of today you can still see the Costa Concordia, as well as all the salvage vessels around it. It's still huge.
And more cute. Because I want cute today.
It's amazing how cats move. You just don't normally get to admire it since we don't watch real life in slow motiion.
Cute Overload
I had been working on another post, but it was just me moaning and bitching about life in general, and a few specifics, which, really, no one but me is interested in. And it just makes me feel even more like bitching and moaning.
So for all our amusement lots of cute critters doing cute things. Though I wish I knew what the dog at the very end is saying. Because it really sounds like he's speaking a human language, just not one I know.
Enjoy.
So for all our amusement lots of cute critters doing cute things. Though I wish I knew what the dog at the very end is saying. Because it really sounds like he's speaking a human language, just not one I know.
Enjoy.
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