Some windows from my world

Term 1, 2006 artwork notice the Letterland characters? Annie Apple, Dippy Duck, Harry Hatman and Clever Cat.
This is the lake nearby with some of the homes that are being built on it ...YUK!!
This is a picture of some parkland nearby where 2IC takes the dog/daugher/Dad bike ride/walk on Sundays and his days off. nice is'nt it? He's so going to kill me when he finds I have lifted his pics LOL


This is the vision as seen by my boys most mornings when they open their curtains, if he's not there, he soon is after being called. He will lick the glass to kiss you and paw at the window to get in. For a working breed, he loves to be inside laying about being scratched or chasing the kids about. He is now able to clear the couch in one bound, from floor on one side to floor on the other. I am so glad we got Lawson as I truely understand the love I had for my friends Koolies/Coolies and why they are such a masterfully intelligent breed. You can see my kids cubby, yellow in the background which was green like the fences ( YUK) I painted it and painted a garden with craft paint, everyone says it is nice, I don't think 2IC has ever like the yellow LOL. The verandah runs the length of the house and is very wide, when it is rainy or wet the kids happily play on their bikes undercover.

Done it, Did it.

Well I completed my little tete a tete at the early intervention groups "Starting School" info night, there were three of us, one whose child has gone to Western Autistic School, another whose child goes to Sunbury and Macedon ranges Specialist school and me, whose Mr 6 who attends a Catholic school with funding for special needs. There were many questions and as in the years I have attended as a audience member and not as a speaker; the questions on their lips is always HOW DID YOU MAKE THAT DECISION? I was honest, had Mr 6 been diagnosed earlier and his sister not had started school at 4...I would have honestly looked to the State school system. Primary factor in the decision being I could not envisage Mr 6 without Miss 9 there to look out for him but nor could I pull Miss 9 out of school after 4 years there and ask that she cope in a new school. Secondary factor was size, it is one of the smaller schools in Sunbury. There was a lot of emphasis placed on the DET testing, an IQ score is not relevant to a child diagnosed with autism and if the child's "intellect" falls within the range for acceptance to a specialist school, the score is not reported to the parents. Too much emphasis is placed on such numbers, Mr 6 then only 5 scored IQ of 74 with deviation of 5 points which means he was possibly a 68/69 which is known as "dream line". His expressive and receptive language skills are below the WHO standard of 70 but not the Australian standard of 74...What makes Australia a world authority of language skills I will never understand.
So hopefully, the parents and grandparents present got something from the evening, I know that the counselor was trying to get one speaker to stop talking as she went on for over 45 minutes but people were listening and asking questions, there is so much you learn in that year before school and if you can help save someone some heartache, stress or just time I think it is worth being there for 2 hours talking. LOL

How do you.....

I have been trying to put into salient, unbiased and informative notes my experiences with Mr 6's long process of being placed in the school we chose. I have been asked to speak at the early intervention group information night, one is held monthly and has various speakers and information sessions; tonight's is preparation for primary school. Very well timed as schools commence intake and information nights this month and information is power ,I always say.

But how do you put the past 12 months into a condensed version whilst informing and (hopefully ) advising? I have done the presentation courses, chaired seminars, fluent in Powerpoint, overheads , you name it I have done it in the presentation format..How can I really make them see that apart from the seeming never ending frustrations, the insurmountable phone calls, the in decision that drives you crazy, the tests, the tests, always the tests...That there is a place in the education system for your child where they will prosper, learn and continue to grow and you WILL make the right decision regardless of what you may think or feel now.
I think I will do some point form notes and wing it, that along with Mr 6's speech book, some info I got from the principal of his school, Mr 6's writing and work books, will go a long way to showing that whatever decision you make will be the right one for your child. I am not going as a promo for the Catholic Ed system but as an advocate of a child funded in the Catholic Ed system, some people mistake the two but I know the differences of the two: my son recognises "god" as something akin to Buzz Lightyear, he goes through the process of "prayer" because he learns by rote and because it is a group activity and he may never fully comprehend the relevence of Catholicism which is fine by me, if he can speak his mind.