1st School Field Trip!!!

First of all, yes, I know it's been a bit since I've updated on Kaitlyn but, to be honest, she's been taking a bit out of me these days! Pretty much school has been the same. She's having some trouble going to school or when we get there she doesnt want to go in because "there are people in there and she wants to be alone." We've had a lot of bathroom "accidents" at school as well as at home since starting school as well. I was even called to pick her up one day as they could not keep taking away from the other kids in the class to clean her up and she had gone twice in a span of 20 mins. I'm noticing that Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little easier for her with the smaller class. She does love school though and does have a couple kids she likes running around with and playing chase or "monster" or whatever with. She tries so hard and bottles everything up while she is there and the tends to explode when at home.

I did get the report from the school - FINALLY! Really... it's just too long to explain but basically they saw what we see (minus the tantrums, of course) and the suggestion was that she needs some coping skills, social skills, and would benefit from a smaller class, where the schedule is routine and predictable and that is run by a special ed teacher who is familiar with kids of her nature. Of course, she scored super high on the testing they did for cognitive and all that and speech. The OT did notice the sensory issues but thinks they may be driven by anxiety or control issues.

Ok so on to the good stuff... sort of! :) We went on Kaitlyn's first school field trip today with her class (and families) to the pumpkin patch! The kids got to pick a gourd, pumpkin and an indian corn from the field. We went on a hay ride, saw some animals, went through a hay maze and hay tunnel (well the kids did, not me! It was only about waist high). The kids got to run around and play and they had storytime and heard a couple great stories. We even ended up losing Kaitlyn just before the Hay ride as she didnt want to follow directions and Mommy was trying to coax Tyler out of the hay tunnel! I told her to wait with everyone else and she decided to make a right turn and go back near the animals to pet the Sheep. So when I finally got Tyler out and managed to make it to the waiting spot for the Hay ride, there was no Kaitlyn with the rest of the group. I didn't really freak out as I knew she really couldn't be far but still. The other parents and teachers were looking around outside while I ran back to the barn with Tyler to look for her there and, of course, thats where I found her. Anyway, weather turned out to be FREEZING and I was NOT prepared and the three of us pretty much froze to death but it was still a good time...

until...

we had to leave. That is when the BEAST showed up, shall I say. We had a couple little crying episodes during the trip but I thought I was lucky and that might be it! One because she was cold but thats understandable and the other was a little worse because somewhere along the way she lost her chapstick that I had just given her this morning (we'll be hearing about the lost chapstick for the rest of the winter, now, just like the "book corner" that is no longer in her classroom!). So after the hay ride and picking the pumpkins it was time to go. I gather this was difficult for my daughter as she began her screaming fit that she didn't want to leave at the barn and it continued all the way to the car (who knows what the poor family walking to their car in front of us was thinking), she then began flailing herself around on the side of the car screaming that she is "not getting in and wants to stay." I managed to get the thrashing little girl into the car and buckled - with some difficulty - and she cried, screamed, demanded and thrashed about, fighting against her harness for most of the ride home (it's about a 35 min ride). I, of course, ignored her behavior completely and Tyler just looked at her kinda bug-eyed. By the time we were almost home I think she tired herself out because she had finally gotten quiet and I looked back only to see her staring glass-eyed into space looking like she could fall asleep at any moment! Up until now we've been dealing with the whole "end of the world" behavior and the very "demanding" behavior... hopefully she will get it out before bedtime and we dont have any screaming fits then.

So, I'm glad we had a good time at the field trip but it was obviously very over-stimulating for Kaitlyn and will make me think twice about field trips from now on... but... we'll probably go anyway because I hate sheltering her just because she "blows up."

Well we're off to see Dr Meyer for a follow up appointment tomorrow so I will update then with how that went and then we're off and running to deal with the school district Special Ed committee as to what to do with this girl regarding school.