It's all good.

I don't know why, but I fear the dreaded parent-teacher interview and obsess about it the day of. But usually in the end it's not that bad and the teachers don't throw us any curve balls that we weren't expecting.

So last night was nothing new. Back in December when we had Ash tested we weren't too sure what was going to happen. The best we were hoping for was an "official" diagnosis so that we could have her coded and then not have to fight with the school every fall for help.

Well, in doing all of that we got our wish. Ash was diagnosed with a Developmental Coordination Disorder and has the possibility of having a learning disability in reading (which, if needed, will be diagnosed in grade 5). With this diagnosis we were finally given the ever elusive "code" and now the school has written up their documents (the IPP) and are going to implement strategies and accommodations to help Ash get through her day. So I reviewed my copy of the IPP as well as all of my testing reports (nothing like a little light and breezy reading to get one in a great mood!) and came armed with questions. Nothing major, just things that have been on my mind. Like why they put "preferential seating" (meaning a quiet and non-distracting spot) as an accommodation but still have her sitting in the middle of a row, smack dab in the middle of the classroom surrounded by boys. I have had this discussion with her teacher at the beginning of the year and obviously she never listened to me so I finally told her this was no longer a request, make it happen. There was also the question of why Ash has it accommodated that she is allowed to go for a stress break, yet she doesn't think she can leave the classroom without specific approval. I stressed that maybe, just maybe, the teacher could assess that she was getting stressed out and tell her to go before she blows up at someone and gets herself in trouble.

It really wasn't that big of a deal at this point. And we walked away fairly happy with the outcome. Although Mrs. O, the main teacher, said at one point "I just don't know how much to ask of Ash", and I had the feeling she meant overall. Which concerns me because that means she is still lost and not getting it when it comes to Ash. I am now telling myself "Only 3 months left of school and grade 2." It just seems rediculous to me that they would write down this list of accommodations for Ash, yet not actually be willing to implement the strategies that they have written down. I don't think that Mrs. O is capable of thinking outside of the box, which is just too bad for all of her students.

I am getting better at this stuff. I guess it's practice makes perfect when it comes to addressing the "officials" at school, as well as remembering to do my homework and be prepared. Not once did I want to cry during or after the meeting. Yay me.

Now, if I can just stop with the pre-game head games then I'm doing great.