First off, I can't believe it's been almost 3 years since I last posted! Somewhere along the way, Blogger made some changes and I couldn't access my account or maybe it was my ADHD brain, not knowing my password for the 100th time. And oh yeah, I was diagnoses with ADHD back in 2003, but I finally decided to get on meds in 2018 after baby #3. I don't love everything about the meds, but overall they seem to be helpful.
I left my O.T. job, that's occupational therapy for those of you who don't know, because my sassy #3 had oral motor delays that made it near impossible for me to give her what she needed and hold a full time job. She went through speech therapy as an infant to help her be able to feed and recently was re-evaluated for speech for the actual speech part. Basically, I just want to be able to understand her and more importantly, not have her get frustrated because we can't understand her. With leaving my OT job, came a new opportunity to work at my kid's preschool.
Year one I barely survived as a 2 year old teacher. You guys, I'm use to dealing with kids with special needs, but I had a 2 SPD kid, a kid with DS, a kid with ADHD, a kid with Attachment disorder, a kid with high functioning autism and auditory sensitivities, and a kid who was non verbal/developmental delays, plus some 'typical kids". Mid year, my co-teacher had a meltdown and left without warning. Needless to say, it was a crazy year but I love those kids!
Year 2, I was in the non-stop infant room. Babies are sweet but non-stop in a childcare setting. So this is year 3 and I am the support staff lead. I have a sensory room to use as needed with the kids who are enrolled in therapy. I meet weekly with therapist and modify classrooms and educate teachers as needed to support these kids. I am the advocate for the kids in many ways. And occasionally I point out to the teachers that their expections of children in their class aren't realistic. Let's just say, that doesn't make me popular. But like I said, I'm here for the kids. I'm an advocate.
Overall, I've learned a lot about me, yet I still struggle. I want to advocate for those who struggle and be the one that fights for them, other times I want to rehab those recovering from illnesses or those dx with autism, but sometimes I have this fantasy of being a SAHM, gardening, cooking meals and homeschooling my kids, but unfortunately those can't all happen simultaneously.
