Education, All in Need
Autumn Green
Teachers Change the World One Child at a Time

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.

I'm Not a Depressed Mom, Though the Anxiety May Just Eat Me Alive

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.

Meeting My Buddy - I Run 4 Autism, I Run 4 Jadhiel

I have always been a runner. Through middle school and high school I ran Cross Country and Long Distance Track. After graduating I would run off and on for exerciser, but when life got busy I would quickly give it up. Once again I started running it was a needed relief for dealing with my son and his IEP and teachers.  It wasn’t too long after I started running I heard about I run4. I quickly signed up to be a runner for someone who has special needs. I figured it would give me an excuse to continue taking care of myself and in return I could share my adventures and love for running with my buddy.

How Marriage Has Trained Me

April 10th happened to be our 16 year wedding anniversary and we were celebrating at Magic Mountain with our kids. It wasn’t an ideal anniversary plan, but what could we do when Spring Break fall on the same week as the wedding anniversary? We figured after we got home we would celebrate in our normal fashion of dinner and maybe ask a friend to keep the boys for a night. That wasn’t nature’s plan.