October 27th, 2003 by Jemaleddin Cole
Kellie and I went to Jared’s school last Tuesday to discuss his IEP. We met with his regular teacher, the speech therapist, the vice principal, the in-home coordinator, and some other woman that I wasn’t introduced to.
On the one hand, it was absolutely depressing to realize that your three-year-old’s goals for the next year are saying “bye-bye” and learning to hang up his coat.
On the other, it was incredibly encouraging. All of his teachers love him. All of his teachers are amazed by his progress. In fact, his main teacher said that she didn’t think he’d need any medication to stay on task. Six months ago she was telling us that we had to get him to a psychiatrist as soon as possible. His vocabulary is sky-rocketing, and he’s going from one-word statements with emphasis (”Cat.” “Cat?” “CAT!”) to semantic phrasings (”Daddy’s shoes”).
So I guess it was a mixed bag. I’m trying to stay upbeat about the whole thing, but it’s hard. If Jared weren’t such an incredible boy, I don’t think I could stand it.
We got rid of our cat the other day. The conflict between Jared and Bob had been escalating for a few weeks and even though it doesn’t seem to bother either of them, we decided that:
You see, Bob isn’t a mean cat. He’s sweet and loving and, evidently, a great stepping stool for those hard-to-reach light switches. But like any cat, you can only kick him out of your way, knock him off of a table and step on his belly so many times before you get scratched. And since I couldn’t teach Jared that Bob had feelings (or his sister, for that matter), I couldn’t get him to leave Bob alone.
So Bob is at the Annapolis SPCA. If you’re in the area and looking for a talkative, active, beautiful cat, ask for Bob. He was neutered when he got there, so don’t let them charge you for that.