The end of the year is almost here, and I cannot help but reflect on my youngest’s school year; actually, on his school career. It is hard to believe that he is approaching his senior year. I am terrified to even think about him graduating high school. I have always felt that he is socially a couple of years behind his classmates and even though he is 17. His maturity is closer to 15-year old’s if we are lucky. (I know boys are always lower maturity level than girls, but it is different with him.)
But, I want to focus on the people that have helped shape who Yaakov is becoming; either those who came along side of me to support him in learning or held both Yaakov and I up when I felt like I was failing him. Yaakov has had an IEP since he was 3 years old. For many years it was for Speech and Language and later he qualified for Specific Learning Disability, and then Autism, and most recently Autism and Specific Learning disability specifically in math.
Just recently, I read an old Facebook post from 2010 where I said “I have been looking for hours, where did I put my of How to Parent Special Needs Kid’s Handbook?” Within the comments I wrote “I set Yaakov off today, so bad that he wanted to kill himself. Yelling at a car that went by to run him over.” It is hard to believe that five years ago this was our daily life.