random/school conference

Watching Mr. Holland's Opus for about the hundredth time. I love this movie.

After my somewhat thematic entry this morning, I have more of a random post for now.

Shaun Cassidy got old. He was on Oprah today and he was old... which in turn... made me glance in the mirror to make sure that i'm still fabulous and barely looking a day over 30-twelve. Im safe.

In our bible study tonight we talked about beauty... and why it matters. Maybe it has something to do with *getting comfortable in my own/old skin* but I feel more beautiful now than I did twenty years ago. I'll expound more on the topic sooner or later.

So there was this meeting today at the school about Austin's recent epic lack of cooperation. Frankly, I was prepared for a heavy guilt trip on me... you know... the old "what is wrong with you, WOMAN? Why can't you control your child?"... and "If he was being brought up in a two parent home he wouldn't be truant"... you know... the kinda crap that I am used to getting from the school system. ONLY... I live in a different place now. And it's a different school system. AND... we're about two degrees of separation from most of the folks who were involved in the meeting. It makes a difference. People actually... well... um... they care. They weren't rying to be punitive. They really wanted to help him get back on track.

I won't bore you with all the details but basically they ENCOURAGED Austin... instead of fussing at him. They let him know the consequences to not attending school but the more important thing was they let him know the BENEFITS of attending. The thing is, although he's incredibly bright and completely functional, he does have this high functioning autism diagnosis which entitles him (although I hate the word "entitlement") to assistance with things like transitioning from high school to college/career. Things like... job placement assistance... financial assistance in college... assistive technology due to his written expression deficiency (translation: his handwriting is abominable)... so there are good things that will come to him IF he stays under the umbrella of the school system and goes through the process (i.e. graduates)... and this assistance continues beyond his high school years which is SOOOO important.

That was encouraging. They also talked about the things he does well... the kindness he shows to the two young ladies in our church who have down's syndrome... how intelligent he really is... we discussed changing his schedule to take him out of study skills class (which he's using as a crutch) and gave him some options and volunteer opportunities to help with Special Olympics and an outdoor science camp for underpriviledged kids. They reinforced a lot of the things I've been saying to him... and enlightened us both about the upcoming future. Honestly... I feel tons better having gotten this information and I feel less alone than I did. The logistics may get tricky but knowing that there are a half dozen people at the school involved in the process ... who really CARE whether or not he succeeds instead of just being willing to let him be a statistic... is comforting.

It truly does take a village to raise a child.

Wow. It's past my bedtime.

Guess I better put La-La-Laptop to bed and settle in myself for a short winters nap.

More in the morning... love and hugs.