Paying it Forward

Two months ago I received the below email from someone who reached out to me for guidance, support or maybe just the final push she needed to figure out that No One will fight for your child the way you will...the note has been edited for confidentiality of course April 2013……..“Lisa, I just wanted to thank you for referring us to Dr. S. We had our first meeting with her yesterday and she was fantastic as advertised. We are going to have our son start seeing her regularly, and the school district also agreed to start providing counseling for him in the fall. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and giving me the push to do something!................Best, A” Knowing that I was able to help a mom advocate for her child makes me so happy. She took the change and went from regular mom to “tiger mom” “advocate mom” or whatever you choose to call her – taking the road less traveled, yet the road that led me to share my story through my blog. Although I haven’t posted in over 10 months, life continues to bring us twist and turns. Sometimes we hit road blocks, sometimes dead ends and through it all we keep knocking down walls and overcoming obstacles to get to where we want to go and lead us closer to the best person we can be. I now have 2 amazing boys with IEP’s for different reasons and both are improving daily. They are happy, healthy and surrounded by an army of educators that adore them and want nothing more than to see them succeed. My oldest received his Kindergarten report card today – exceeding expectations in all areas related to reading and in some areas related to math. Overall, reading, writing and doing math well above the Kindergarten expected levels. He is down to 2 main goal areas on his IEP (reading comprehension and social skills as they relate to the use of language). Those of you who began this journey with me almost 4 years ago know how far he has come. I thank each and every one of you for the part you played in giving him the tools to be where he is today! I must say that surrounding yourself with the wrong “experts” can have a detrimental effect on your child’s progress. I encourage anyone reading this post (for themselves or someone you know) to do your homework and make sure that you find the right experts for your family situation. When we moved back to MD, we made the mistake of taking an ABA company’s word for how they ran program and by the time I realized that what they said they would do was quite different than what was actually being done my oldest had regained old negative behaviors. Our family, nanny and his teachers spent the last 3 months re-teaching him and reinforcing the appropriate actions and reactions to situations instead of moving him forward. Learn from our mistake – take your time, do your research, check references and be involved. If you don’t know what to look for ask someone that may know. Feel free to reach out to me with questions as well. I welcome the opportunity to help people through their journey. Onto my youngest – He is now in pre-school and with his own IEP beginning this fall. Areas of focus are articulation, use of language and fine motor skills. He is currently making progress working with educators in the infants and toddlers program. Each day I see marked improvements and am once again very lucky to be surrounded by an army of experts wanting nothing but the best for him. Advocate for your child because if you don’t No One will! This post and my entire journey is proof positive that aligned with the right experts/educators, early intervention works!