"Special Needs"

I want to let you in on a little piece of my world. I am overwhelmed from all the new information since I went to a conference last weekend concerning children with all kinds of disabilities. I learned a whole new appreciation for us parents dealing with children who are different and who the world tells us are "special needs" children. One specific comment made by one of the speakers that day was this "My son does not have "special needs" he has just the same needs as any other child in this world! He needs to be loved, and hugged, to be understood, and have friendships, and kissed goodnight at bedtime." Don't we ALL need those things?!

This really put my life into perspective. There is still so much to understand about what is going with Josiah but for right now I know that he is like many of his neighborhood friends. He wants to play and have friends and be loved just like the rest of them. And I am going to do my best to understand that sweet, beautiful, and complicated mind he has because I truly love that little boy! This is my life and I embrace it! Thank you Lord for teaching me such a valuable lesson! Blessings to you all today!

Update:
We had our first IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting yesterday with 3 women who have been observing Josiah in his current classroom. They observed many of the issues that we have seen at home so they were prepared ahead of time to have in place the special helps in the classroom that will help him adjust. For example, if he doesn't understand or know the plan for the day, that will throw him off and good luck trying to get him to do anything. So they will make a special visual schedule that he can check off throughout the day. Another thing is that they will give him "movement breaks". This means that he can stop what he is doing if he gets frustrated with his work or feels anxious about something, then go bounce on a ball or in some way get some vigorous movement, then after 5 minutes he will be expected to go back to the same task and finish it. (I do this at home, and it works amazingly!!!) So the meeting yesterday went exactly as I hoped for and it was not all negative, I was sure to point out Josiah's strengths and how we could use those in a classroom as well. The woman in charge told me how great it was that I was so prepared and understood the process. She said I could help run these meetings with how well I did. That made me feel good. I am now looking forward to the next school year and am hopeful that Josiah will succeed in a regular classroom. He is such an intelligent boy and am so glad the ladies yesterday were able to see that in him! Thank you all for your continued support and prayers and love throughout this long process. I will continue to keep you updated.