IEP Meeting and Thursday Thankfulness

How fortunate for me that our annual review and IEP meeting happened to fall on a Thursday.  So I can cage two birds at once (I see no reason for violence and killing of innocent creatures).  What is instilling gratitude this week?

1. I am thankful that we got all of Gus’s services renewed for next year without much of a fuss.  Furthermore, by all accounts, he has shown a good deal of improvement since last year.  He still (obviously) has some major issues to overcome, but he’s better than he was last year, and that’s all we can ask of him.
2. I am thankful that Gus’s  evaluations came back with no surprises, even if the stark truth of  the numbers is  still a little saddening in areas:  IQ and verbal ability in the superior range for his age; the social skills, pragmatic communication & self-care ability of a 3-5 year old.  His math skills are age-appropriate.   We knew all this, but it’s always good to see, in a concrete way, where his strengths and weaknesses are.  We just have to keep plugging away at those challenges.
3. I am thankful for the advice of The Coffee Klatch on Twitter to bring some treats to the meeting.  I don’t know how much goodwill the box of Munchkins established, but it was good that I had something to stuff in my mouth when the chairperson, again, inappropriately, tried to tell us that we should consider medicating Gus.  It’s hard to punch someone in the mouth or cuss them out when you’ve got a yummy jelly donut in your gob.  Fortunate for both of us, I would say.  I don’t advocate violence, but I do get the impulse every once in a while – I’m only human – and this is the 2nd time in as many years as she’s pulled that.  Schools don’t have the right to pressure parents into medicating their special needs children, period.  She knows this.  She prefaces her statements with an acknowledgment that she shouldn’t be making them, and then makes them anyway.  I don’t think she’s ever even seen Gus in person, yet feels qualified to spout medical advice.  Perhaps she’s been moonlighting as a psychiatrist, I don’t know.  Whatever.  Pass the donuts, please.

Now that my mini-rant is done, what are you thankful for this week?