One small step for man.....

The Coast was beautiful. I want to move there, green grass dam's overflowing with sparkling water and the sea, with its mystical beauty and roaring waves. The resort we stayed at was just as perfect, ocean view villa, mini golf, giant jumping pillow (which the adults were allowed on am massive playground and 3 different swimming pools ( one heated indoor!) Oh and as it was off season the 1800 people capacity was reduced to 6 not to mention all of this breakfast and a dinner discount for $95 per night per family! Oh we will return!
Jaiden coped brilliantly with the ocean - he was a tad reserved at first but his interest soon out weighed any anxiety, and he was running around the beach with his brothers, squealing excitedly when a rogue wave lapped at his toes. Bliss....

Back home to reality with today bringing Jaidens in-school EIU evaluation report. I was a tad nervous as i stepped into the school grounds, even though i have been talking openly all year with Jai's teachers there is sothing so official about that little piece of paper. Not to mention i had oh so briefly discussed Williams Syndrome with Jais teacher at the end of the last session and had told her to read up and let me know her thoughts...
As i entered the class room i was somewhat surprised to see two well dressed "official looking" ladies seated at a desk next to Jaiden's teacher Jenny.
Jenny greeted me and warmly and introduced me to the ladies who were from the early education department and there to offer advice and sit in whilst the report was discussed and then make some decisions about my son's future.
The report was as expected really, Gross motor is going well,Play skills are developing, persistent fine motor delays, verbal expression very good, receptive expression not so good, Volitile emotional state and anxiety, sensory issues and Fantastic social personality. We discussed a plan which includes continuing the use of viual aids for activities to help Jaiden remain on task and less anxious about what was happening next - routine seems to be becoming very important to him. We also discussed what the paediatrician had said re school, and we decided it would be best for Jaiden to go to mainstream pre-school as well as the EIU next year as this will challange him and help him socially (other EIU kids are all very withdrawn)and hey, if it doesnt work out we can always pull him out and try again the following year. Everyone also agreed that OT is an important thing to add into Jai's rapidly growing Therepy list and they may be able to push ahead of the 6-8 month waiting list. Then Jenny mentioned Williams Syndrome. She said the first site she read she thought No, and then she read several more pages and looked at some photographs and decided that actually WS does seem very 'Jaiden' and that she can certainly see what i mean. She and the other ladies agreed that we should certainly keep following it up with the geneticist. Wow. An 'offical' person actually listened. There i guess we have one small step for man and perhaps one giant leap for Jaiden!
All in all i left feeling satisfied that Jai is where he should be and we are now heading in the right direction for him.