This guest post comes from a colleague who is a blast from my past! Adina Rich and I worked together in an Elementary School well over a decade ago, just as I was starting out in education, actually. While we lost touch for quite some time, we crossed paths again recently thanks to our shared interest in helping children with special needs. Adina is now the mother of three and is the Chief Education Officer at Rich Educational Consulting. I think you’re going to enjoy this post about school program options from Adina. And, I encourage you to watch for upcoming guest blog pieces from her as well; she is our newest Guest Blogger! After reading, I encourage you to leave a comment below or reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter with your thoughts. Thank you for helping me welcome Adina!
EXPLORING AUTISM PROGRAMMING OPTIONS FOR YOUR CHILD IN THE SCHOOL SETTING
By Adina Rich
My child is not like yours. There are probably similarities. My child has brown hair, hazel eyes, a wide toothed grin. However, there are probably differences as well. My child wears glasses, SMO leg braces, and was non-verbal until he was 4 ½. He does not always know how to ask to play with other children and does not always get social cues. But he has a wicked sense of humor and a heart so pure he will melt away anyone’s misgivings.

As a former teacher, I know first-hand that teaching is exhausting. Before Ethan was born, I taught public school for seven years and often stayed late, took work home with me and still felt like there weren’t enough hours in the day. (And, this was before I was a mother!) So, when Ethan started in PPCD (Public Preschool for Children with Disabilities) almost 5 years ago, I made it a point to help his teachers with as many tasks as they could/would delegate on a weekly basis. With each passing year, my volunteerism at Ethan’s school has fluctuated based on our family (and my work) schedule/responsibilities and on the teachers’ needs for assistance.

Okay, so I don't know where really to begin. First of all, I have two children, Kai and Johnnie. Kai has pdd-nos and my daughter, well she seems okay, hyper, but fine. I guess, normally I would start this off as, how I struggled to ge doctors to diagnose him. I'd known since he was 9 1/2 mos old that something wasn't right, and I had suspected autism. Anyway, I think most people have that same story...so I'll skip it...and fast forward to today, right now....and where we're at.

During the past several weeks, I have had many inquiries regarding our programs at Under the Umbrella. While I would love to be of service to all children and families, I understand that our program does not meet the needs of all children. I often will refer families to other centers that I believe will be able to benefit them the most. Here are some of the most commonly asked questions that I receive along with the answers that I will typically give to parents:

Sam loves his homeschool PE class at Lifetime Fitness. Besides this being just the coolest gym you have ever seen, the PE class is amazing. Kids get the opportunity to hang out with other kids that are either doing the homeschool thing or who attend a university model program. The class is run like a super-cool PE class and the kids totally dig it.

Today my husband got on a plane and flew to Cincinnati for his brother's surprise 50th birthday party. We have this little thing we do when we fly...we check out the pilot and decide, simply by looks and age, if we think he is capable of handling the plane and getting us to our destination safely. Somehow this little check makes us feel better about flying and gives us hope that we'll get there safely.