I LOVE this place

I cannot tell you how happy I am, how exited about and mostly how grateful I am for Novan's school ABC of NC. Novan hasn't even been there for 2 months yet, and he can not only already write his letters (upper and lower case) but also his name on demand. He also knows and can write his numbers. He knows what day of the week it is, the season, the weather, count and write numbers and he also can HOLD A PEN properly. That is SO huge. I had been trying to teach him that for months and they taught him in a couple few weeks. It sounds easy to most people but unless you have had a child with little to no fine motor skills, you have no idea how frustrating it is for you to try and train them to get their muscles to work properly. Beya, for instance, learned to hold a pen without any prompting. She started doing it without direction. But Novan never could get it right. But now he now doesn't need ANY prompting to hold the pen correctly. His motor skills are vastly improved and I know it might be TMI but he can now wipe himself without my direction most of the time. (not that they work on that at school of course but it just testifies his improved motor skills)

A few weeks ago we were at the Dr's office for Iyov's checkup and the doctor pointed out how much more engaged Novan was socially. Novan spoke to the doctor and looked at her in the eye and smiled. He rarely would do that with strangers and the last time the doctor had seen him he didn't do any of that. She had suggested getting an assessment for him. I never did though and decided we were going to work more on his motor skills at home. But when the Dr pointed it out this time I told her it was the school he was going to that was specialized for Autistic kids and he was going as a "typical child." I swear, it's like he gets occupational therapy and school as one 5 days a week except that he's not labeled and it's MUCH cheaper.

I can only imagine how wonderful it must be for those parents whose kids are actually diagnosed on the spectrum. No wonder the school is growing so much. They do such an amazing job helping kids with disabilities on every level.

And Novan LOVES school. He absolutely ADORES it. We get out of the car every day so I can walk him to his class and he always has a big ole' smile on his face. Novan is generally a reserved person when it comes to excitement and so to see that just makes my heart glad. They have these one-way glass windows looking into all the classrooms so parents can observe without their kids knowing, and today I watched him (like I do most days) run in and drop his lunchbox off and go to the table with the other kids... just grinning ear-to-ear. Just happy to be there. My heart swelled and I shed a few tears there watching him, just so grateful that Heavenly Father answered my prayers that I could help Novan be ready for public school, that he would help me to find a way to make Novan's growth and development a little easier. I felt so bad about all his tears when we were trying to get him to write and his emotional breakdowns when he got so frustrated that he couldn't get his body to work right. I worried for him to be in public school where teachers are outnumbered 20 to 1. Novan really needed someone to understand his needs and be able to focus lessons around his needs with innovative teaching styles. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love that school. I wish I had more money and I would pay them what they're really worth... soooo much more than $165/month.

Brad said to me this morning "Man, that place is so great. How long can he go to that school?" Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
I replied that unfortunately they don't have inclusion classes for higher than preschool but I now feel like Novan is well on the way to excelling in kindergarten and beyond where he won't get as much specialized help and personal attention. He's being taught coping skills and learning methods that will be applicable wherever he goes... which will hopefully be Moore Magnet Elementary where they use the 5 intelligences alternative teaching methods. Yep, that's another thing on my prayer list right now. =)

I also have Gammy to thank for sending the play-dough and hole punch stuff for Novan's "at-home-therapy." I am sure that helped/still helps as well.