Rm 600

Day one and all I have to say is Wow.

Today went well, but I'll be honest, there was a point where I had a horrible attitude.

I feel that I was a tiny bit mislead in my interview.

I walked in to a totally different environment than expected.

I'm in a classroom with 6 adults and 5 students. All of which are girls.

Each student has a one on one. Which is usually ideal and what the parents want, but most schools don't have that in their budget or they shaft Special ed completely and work with what they have.
Luckily these parents have fought for it and succeeded. That's awesome.

So here's the deal. The deal that I wasn't expecting.
I'm back in the severely disabled classroom.
It's been a while since I've worked in that area.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just a tad bit harder and a lot more draining.
Don't get me wrong, I'm blessed to even have a job right now. It's just that I had plans/wishful thinking of not being in a classroom again and being able to work in full time ministry as my career.
It'll happen. I just have to be patient and do what I have to do until then.
I'm trying really hard to have a positive attitude about all of this, and stay motivated.

I didn't get to meet my student today. She was out sick.
I did get to hear a lot of stories and study her IEP a bit.
She is the highest functioning kid in the classroom. Verbal and mobile, unlike a couple of her classmates.
She's 13 and the center of attention. All eyes and attention are on her. She is known as the "DIVA" of the classroom.
She LOVES music and knows every Disney, High School Musical and pop song out there.
Good to know we have a couple of connections already ;)
In her case, she has something called Wolf Hirschhorn Sydrome.
Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome results from the deletion of the distal short arm of chromosome 4. A genetic error.
It causes malformations in most parts of the body because the genetic error affects- fetal growth and development.
Some of the symptoms of this disorder include:
Distinctive facial features such as prominent forehead, wideset eyes, and broad beaked nose.
Brain and muscles - profound mental retardation, small head, seizures (50% of individuals), low muscle tone, poor muscle development.
Bones - very short stature, facial deformities, malformations of hands and feet, chest, and spine and heart defects.
She suffers from seizures here and there, but those are pretty controlled.
She also has Prader Willies syndrome.
PW is an obsession for food and to eat continually without control and everything & anything in sight. Whether it's in the trash or on the floor. It doesn't matter.

I'm excited to meet her and I know my attitude will change as soon as I do.

I think today was just a bit overwhelming, unexpected and exhausting.

I came home and slept for a solid 3 hrs...in my work clothes.
I usually can't sleep during the day, but today - no issue at all.

In other news:
I traveled to NOVA Sunday after church, in hopes of selling my car to either of the 2 possible interests.
They were both pretty promising and seemed one of them was ready to go with the cash.
To make a long story short, One wasted his and my time and the other flaked.
Gah.
So, the car is still up for grabs.
It's parked in front of the Keipi's house right now and Mr & Mrs. Keipi are passing the word on to the people in their ministry.
*Sigh*
Soon enough, it'll be out of the way. Right?

Ok, I can't keep my eyes open much longer, so I will have to end here.

CHEERS&JEERS:

Cheers: I looked super cute on my first day...ha. Classy, yet youthful.
Jeers: I came home yogurt and other unmentionables on my clothing.


Cheers: Getting to hang with Aaro and Graham for a bit during the car escapades.
Jeers: leaving Alexandria later than expected and ended up being pulled over in front of my house with the Mr.Policeman questioning if I had been drinking or not. Heh.