Clara's Paren Teacher Conference

I went to Clara's Parent Teacher Conference tonight. I had a great talk with her teacher. She is amazed that Clara is crawling and how fast she is getting. She loves it when they leave the classroom door open because then she will escape. She said that when they go out for recess, she takes off the minute the door is opened and will go "visit" the others on the playground. She is such a social butterfly :)

Today, they tried a new walker with her. It isn't a reverse walker like she had been using, but a forward walker with a pad in front that she leans against. She gets going quite fast and just walks all over. Sometimes it gets going faster then her feet can move and she will face plant, but she will get the hang of it. (Now to just get the one that we ordered for home so she can practice here.) We both agreed that by the end of the school year she will be walking, or right on her way to walking.

We also talked about her communication. Last year before her big seizure, she would imitate sounds, and could almost say Connie (one of her aids), well, she would imitate the intonation, but she isn't doing that anymore. So the new thing they have done with her is made some picture cards of the things they do in the classroom and they will show her 2 of them for her to choose. Her teacher said that she definitely has her favorite activities. She loves playing in the bean table and picking toys out of the dried beans. She will actually grab that card if it is a choice. She gets a little upset if it isn't a choice, but she will swat at another card. We actually talked about getting with the Augmentative Communication Device team to get her a PEG (I think that is what it is), something with pictures that she can pick, and slowly move her up as she gets the hang of those into one that will speak for her.

Last week her class got to go to an apple orchard for a field trip. The kids had a ton of fun riding the wagon through the apple trees and looking around. Clara didn't ride the bus because I drove her, but when she saw all the other kids loading onto the bus, she got excited and almost jumped out of the stroller to get onto the bus. She enjoys riding the bus and always has a lot to say to the bus driver and the aids.

Today in speech class, the read the story about the 6 blind men and the elephant, and how they feel the strange object they've run into trying to figure out what it is. They made an "elephant" out of several different things, but the one they got to bring home was very cute. It was made out of different candy with frosting holding it together. Her speech teacher said all the kids seemed to have fun with the project.

I have to say that I love Clara's school and all the things that they do there. She is in a self contained special ed school. She is so happy and taken care of. I can't say enough good things about all they are doing with Clara and all that she is learning.