Let me tell you a bit about our 4y/o son, J. He was born at 23 6/7 weeks (4 months early) weighing 1lb 8.8oz. He was in the NICU for 3 months and dealt with typical micro-preemie issues (BPD, ROP, PDA x2, Grade II bilateral brain bleeds, blood transfusions, and the list could go on). He was on O2 for 13 months and has been in OT, ST, and PT off and on his entire life. With all of these challenges starting out in life, he is doing great. He does have his challenges now and ahead of him but we are very proud of how far he has come.
J is in a preschool program for kids with special needs/developmental delays. His speech has exploded in the last year since he has been in it. Well, we were looking for a summer program to keep him structured during the summer. We thought we had found one that would be perfect. I filled out extensive paperwork and questionairres about J and where he is developmentally. It is a private school for children with language delays. In their marketing they state they only accept students w/ average to above average learning potential. Well, J is benchmarking on kindergarten work and he has speech delays. So, I think he is exactly what they are looking for in a student. I get a call from the placement person with the program. She tells me that she will need to observe J b/c she did not know if he was “a good fit” for their program. Are you kidding me? She said she did not feel that J was high enough functioning. They generally only accept students w/ only 1 yr speech delayed and J is 2 yrs speech delayed. So this is a special needs school who only accepts students with such a minimal delays that they do not need to attend this very expensive private school. So, I will keep J busy this summer doing many fun and therapeutic activities. And BTW, I get to save $2k. I have not been this angry in a very long time. I just had to get that out. I feel better and do not feel the need to bash this school anymore.
Enough about that! So, let me tell you how cool J is—J loves music. He has a guitar, piano and drum set. He plays them daily. I use the term “play” very loosely. We can always tell when he likes a new song b/c he searches out his guitar and plays his heart out. So beside his Calender time music (which if I have to hear for much longer you may need to call the loony bin), his music tastes consist of: Irma Thomas, Better than Ezra, Johnny Cash, “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” sound track, 3rd Eye Blind, Rufus Wainwright. We listen to more than these artists but he usually asks us to turn them off.
