Big Changes

So, it's really been a while since I last posted anything. The summer months got ahead of me.  Brayden is back in school now so things feel like they are more on a schedule again.

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. A few months ago, Josh's dad had seen an advertisement for a new charter school being built down in Pleasant Grove. The nice thing about the school though was it catered to children with autism. We decided with it being a charter school and a lottery based admission, we would put our name on the list not really thinking he would get accepted this year. He was enrolled in the public school here by our house. He would finish the 6th grade school year there and come next year with middle school hopefully he would get accepted or we would have to figure something else out. We submitted an application the beginning of July. We got a response pretty quickly that he hadn't been chosen in the lottery. Not a surprise there.

Fast forward to last week. We got a call from the school late We'd afternoon saying that by some miracle a child was moving and a spot opened up and Brayden had been selected. From what the lady said it does sound miraculous and I know with what I believe that it was an answer to our prayers. He got enrolled. We had back to school night Monday and he started school two days ago.

The crazy part of it all is they consider 6th grade to be middle school age. Brayden has 7 classes and a locker. To say I felt stressed would be an understatement. Because all the students there have autism, it's like a middle school but modified. Brayden's classes are all right around one another so he doesn't have to navigate and travel to far from class to class. Lunch was another concern I had. You think about all the noise and chaos that exists in a public school lunchroom. Then you throw children into the mix that don't do well with settings like that. My concern was he may get overloaded. Well the school has thought through that as well, so after his 4th period class ends, they stay in the class with the teacher and watch cartoons and eat lunch for 30 minutes. Lunch is his favorite part of the day so far :) When I picked him up the first day he seemed happy and said he had had a great day. He went back to his locker after each class to get what he needed and found each class with no problem. Josh and I have determined our kid is hecka smart and I admit there are times I may underestimate that he can figure things out for himself too. He had a great 2nd day yesterday and seems to be doing well. I'm just trying to figure out the kinks with drop off and pick up and making sure he completes all his stuff. But so far so good. It truly has been a strength to my testimony all these events and I look forward to watching my son excel.