A trip to the dentist

I took this picture of Kalen on Wednesday after she had four teeth pulled. Baby teeth that is. Kalen mouth is a dentist and orthodontist dream and a parents nightmare. Kalen did not get all of her baby teeth and she is missing permanent teeth. She has a genetic disorder that causes this. From her last dental appointment I thought they were going to pull two teeth and fill one small cavity. I was wrong. She did very well thru all of it. She struggled with one of the shots, but otherwise it was good. Our dentist is a wonderful guy, we only hope he doesn't retire before we get thru the next several years of serious dental work. I got a little squeamish on the tooth pulling. I don't do blood. So I was a little unnerved by that but then one of the roots didn't come out and the dentist had to dig for it. I can't even talk about it. Anyway, I kept her on Motrin for the day and she was fine. She was pretty concerned that she would not be able to eat. Now we have to see an orthodontist and make a plan before we go any further.

Kalen goes to Social Skills Camp for the next two weeks. It is a program that the school district puts on for kids that have some form of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Kalen has done this camp since they started it several years ago. It runs from 10-2 on Monday thru Thursday. I don't know that she learns anything but she has a great time. It is a place where she can go and be with other kids that have quirks like she has and they are free to be themselves. The lady (Merrie) that runs the camp is great. She was a school psychologist when Kalen started Pre K. She was the first person to say that she thought called had some form of ASD. The rest of the team (teacher, OT, PT and Speech therapist) disagreed. The speech therapist went as far as to say that Kalen's problems were in her home life. It's a wonder I didn't knock her teeth out. About two years ago the school district created a position for Merrie as "District Autism Specialist." Last fall I was told that there was 110 kids diagnosed with ASD and she was continually testing for it. Merries job is to test students and work with resource teachers and schools to help ASD kids and she attends IEP (individual education plan) meetings. I've never known a suggestion of Merries to not be helpful. Our problem last year with the school was that Merrie gave great ideas, but Kalen's team didn't follow them.

Kalen's team at school last year stunk. It was her classroom teachers first year to teach (she is my age and just got her degree) and she was really overwhelmed, then Kalen got a new resource teacher. The resource teacher is suppose to be the caseworker and advocate at school. She was truly a sad disappointment. When the resource teacher isn't on board with your child's learning disability and disorder, your in trouble. The lady was new to the school and she had a list of degrees and experience. In my opinion she has no business being a resource teacher, she truly doesn't get it. A teachers education doesn't mean jack when they don't get it. By the end of the first quarter she and I butted heads pretty bad and our relationship didn't get any better as the year went on. This is an example: Kalen's testing at the end of 5th grade showed that she is at a 7th grade level in everything but math. Math is at a 2nd grade level. That is her learning disability. The resource teacher saw Kalen as being very smart and had it in her mind that Kalen didn't like math and was just lazy. What can I even say to that. I could go on and on.