by Last week I wrote about my sister’s difficult decision regarding which preschool to send her daughter to. This week, I look at my family’s decision about my daughter’s educational needs.
Unlike a typical preschool search, our search has been much different. Instead of touring different sites and seeing which would be the best fit, I went with my daughter to one specific school multiple times so that she could be tested in a variety of areas. We are not consumed with trying to get my daughter into the best, most academically rigorous preschool, instead, we were looking into getting my daughter into a preschool which would help her succeed in her own way.
This is the life of special needs parents, some things in common with other parents, but also speaking a different language involving therapists and individualized education plans. We learned this week that my daughter will qualify for developmental preschool in an integrated classroom once she turns three. This has been a relief to us since there was some question as to whether she would actually qualify. These are federally mandated programs and with education dollars dipping, getting into these programs can be difficult as multiple criteria need to be met.
With this acceptance into our school districts special needs preschool program comes with it our first IEP or individualized education plan. This is a document that sets out goals for the upcoming school year, goals that therapists and teachers will work with my daughter on to help her succeed and prepare her for school.
Special needs parents are well aware of these IEP meetings. Getting the help needed for your child can sometimes be a challenge as parent’s ideas of what services their child needs may differ significantly from what the school district believes is best.
Knowing that this important meeting was going to happen, I created a Tarot Spread to give me some idea as to what the energies were like going into this meeting. Did I need to be strong and go in fighting or would a passive approach be better?
This spread could easily be adapted for other types of meetings and is one I will likely use before future IEP meetings.
Position 1: Energies I am bringing into the meeting? Three of Wands
Position 2: Energies the school district is bringing to the meeting? The World Reversed
Position 3: Energies I need to release for this meeting? Strength
Position 4: Energies the school district needs to release? Two of Wands Reversed
Position 5: Energies I need to embrace for this meeting? The Star
Position 6: Energies the school district needs to embrace? Ace of Cups Reversed
Position 7: What is in the best interest of the child? Two of Cups
What I took away from this reading was that I could let go off all the pent up inner strength and fighting spirit and relax. Hope and a positivity are on our side. And it is in the best interest of my daughter to get along and come together with the school district. We can best serve her by calmly talking and deciding together what will work for her.
And this is exactly how the meeting played out. All seven women from the school district were extremely nice. They understood our concerns and their plan was excellent. It leaves me excited for my daughter to start preschool in the fall. She will learn and grow so much from this program.
Mary Shannon 
Leave a Reply