Validation

"You are the parents of this child and so that makes you our partners. We will have him for the next 20 years but you will have him for the rest of your lives. We want to make sure he is a success."

That was how the Director of Special Education Services for our city concluded the IEP meeting yesterday after approving my request for additional hours of in-home therapy for Oliver.

"You made an educated, informed request and I want to validate everything you said. We are here to support the parents. At this point money is not an object."

That was what she said after I made my presentation and it was discussed around the table.

I know that a lot of parents have had a different experience with the IEP process and so I feel incredibly fortunate. I went to sleep at peace last night.

Also, for those other autism bloggers out there, if you haven't watched this video (which I found courtesy of Autism Diva's site) you may find it interesting. I don't hold out much hope for getting the rest of the world to want to see things through Oliver's eyes but this reminded me of my own obligation to do so. In my struggle to make sure he is getting everything he needs I tend to forget how important this is.

I particularly like the bit about the hairless dogs!