David.
Sculptor, artist.
Avid reader.
Protector of his middle brother.
Not so much with the youngest brother.
Working on getting his black belt.
And, by the way, he has Asperger's Syndrome.
I have been working on a proposal for the past few days for his karate school in reference to making accommodations for him during his black belt testing.
I have letters from his Developmental Pediatrician
and from a Special Needs Educator.
I have written it all up and I am going to present it to his teacher tomorrow. He will present it to the school owner on Monday. I have been pretty wrapped up in thinking about it for days.
I really hate asking for accommodations. I try to only ask
if it is really, really necessary.
I only ask if there is something that can be done that will:
1. Dramatically improve David's chance to demonstrate his
abilities or
2. If he will suffer from the lack of accommodation. And by suffer, I mean like humiliation.
I don't want to be that crazy mommy who asks for everyone to do something different just so my child will feel the same. He is different. And that is totally ok.
I've been the crazy, over-reacting mommy. She doesn't have credibility because she speaks from emotion instead of information. She expects everyone to understand years of issues and dr.'s appointments and set backs. And really, you can't catch someone up to where you are in a conversation. Or at all, really.
I approach it as this: most people my child encounters wants what is best for him. If additional information helps them understand him, then I give it. If there is something they can do to make the interaction easier on both of them, I tell them.
So, I don't like asking for accommodations. Not because I don't like asking for help. But because I have to always check myself to see if it is necessary. Part of me sending David off into the world one day will be his learned ability to adjust when there are no accommodations made.
That isn't much of a blog post.
Just kinda where my mind has been for a few days.
On my kids. Right where it should be:)
PS. The accomodations are for his environment during testing.
