A letter to Zander's first grade IEP Team

We're really grateful for your email.  We've been in close touch with Ms. Parodi since Zander began school, but for ease of communication and coordination, I'm cc'ing folks with whom I believe he will also be working during this upcoming year as well as Ms. Fielding, my husband, Brian, and our nanny, Priscilla Molina.

 

Indeed, we agree that it would be best if Zander had some time to get comfortable with his classroom.  That sounds like a great plan to ease him into things.  We did spend time with him during the Summer on getting his commitment to be "okay" with being pulled out.  I now check with him every day, and he has agreed to tell me when/if he feels uncomfortable.

 

Would there be a way to coordinate the timing of the services for which Zander will be pulled out of class?  I know that your schedules are very packed, with tons of kids to get to.  But I do think that we'll have the best luck with Zander overall if the various services are consolidated into a finite number of pull-outs, if possible.  Brian, Priscilla, and I would also very much like to support you all in your support of Zander.  If you let us know his pull-out/services schedule, we can work at home to incentivize his participation.

 

I appreciate your asking about Zander's start to the school year.  He is VERY excited about first grade and continues to be very enthusiastic about going to school each morning.  He had a very successful summer, attending a local sports camp for six weeks.  We watched our little boy fall in love with being an athlete this summer, and we are very proud.  He was one of three campers of the entire summer-long program recognized with a special personalized prize (his was his current backpack!) by his Coach as a "Camper of the Camp" for his sportsmanship, energy, and athleticism.  He took great pride from this experience.

 

However, as Ms. Parodi knows, the first week of Zander's first grade experience was marked by yet another unexpected hospitalization for his sister, Aila.  Her hospitalizations mean chaos for our family, as one of us lives with her in the hospital during this time.  Since we both work full time, this is very stressful.  One thing I regret about last year was perhaps not making it incredibly clear to everyone the substantial toll that Aila's cancer has had on Zander in particular.  She was diagnosed in August of 2015 at the age of 2 1/2 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and has been undergoing intensive chemotherapy since that time, with countless unpredictable hospitalizations, day-long clinic visits, and great stress to our entire family.  Before she got sick, Zander and his sister were the best of friends.  But she has been very, very sick from side effects of chemotherapy and nonstop viruses in addition to her leukemia since her diagnosis.  Zander has done an amazing job adapting to a very difficult and painful situation.  While it may not be clear during his day-to-day interactions, he has had to grow up faster than any other six-year-old I know.  Last year, Brian and I wanted kindergarten to be a place where he could exist without cancer and illness--a place all his own.  So we talked very sparingly about our family's situation.  As I mentioned above, I regret that now, as I feel that his struggles at school may not have been perceived within the larger context of his sister's illness and our family's stress.

 

Brian and I want to do absolutely everything possible to support Zander during his first-grade year.  He is such a strong, warm, and soulful boy who has shown such incredible resilience and determination in the face of unbelievable chaos in his little life.  We are very grateful for all of your support and understanding.  

 

Please let us know anything what we can do to support our little boy during this upcoming year.

 

Many thanks,

 

Victoria and Brian

Comments

New Comment

Name

required

Email

required (not published)

Website

optional

Comment

If you enter anything in this field your comment will be treated as spam