Evie the Extraordinary and Her Mommy: The Journey As We Go

Hi everyone!  We just got back from my first trip to Disney World!  My mommy didn't know if I'd like it because I get scared of large crowds and noises.  She wrote me a social story about our trip before we went.  I asked her to read that book at least twice a day to me.  Then we got on an airplane (I love airplanes) and went to Florida!   Mommy was busy going to work for 2 days. I got to swim at my Yin-Yin and Ya-Ya's timeshare resort and I loved it.  Mommy was really happy about having something called Sonny's BBQ for dinner.  For dinner, there was no high chair in our hotel room, so Mommy pulled out a portable kids' desk for me and I ate dinner off of that. We changed hotels to be closer to Disney World, so we could take a bus to see Cinderella.  I love singing Wheels on the Bus when we're on the bus!  Our resort was called Port Orleans Riverside.  Mommy picked it because it was a Moderate level resort w...

Today was the big day--the IEP meeting.  I've been primed to dread this day for years--pretty much once my baby was born and I started joining special needs' forums online and heard about this mysterious IEP when your child turns 3.  I hope that I can share our experience to help someone, knowing that every child's experience is different, and every town is different.  I will say that we have had a wonderfully smooth and informative experience! Here is a timeline of how things went down for Evie's entrance to preschool. 1.  6 months before she turned 2, we started hearing scary phrases like "when she turns 3" and "IEP" and "transition planning meeting." 2. Transition planning meeting : Evie's entire EI team congregated in our living room and talked about her skills and goals.  In my mind, this is probably when I made the transition from "coddle-the-NICU-baby" to "treat-my-daughter-like-a-big-girl." 3.  In the l...