Thane, just a few days after his 9th birthday, wrote this letter to Santa Claus. It is definitely one of those things that makes a mom say "Aw! Isn't he cute?"

It was not only cute, it was surprising. Thane has Asperger's so I don't tend to imagine him wishing to do something for some unknown, ambiguous person in South America. I am also really proud of him that he messed some stuff up and was able to deal with it. OK, I also love that the paper is upside down because that just seems so much like my child.

It also made me remember when Braeden was about the same age. A teacher at his school suffered a significant property loss from a micro-burst (similar to a tornado) and there was a spaghetti supper at his school. Since Thane is gluten-free, we couldn't go to the supper, but Braeden decided to give his savings to the fund. He wrote a very sweet letter and packaged up his $71 and I don't think that teacher will ever forget. It brought tears to her eyes. A couple of years later, Braeden was saving for a large army set that was $250. He finally got to that amount when he decided to give it to a school in South America. His reason was because he felt bad for these kids having no parents, so he wanted to at least make the school better.

I think I have a couple of really great kids.

Asperger's

I am trying to upload photos, but satellite internet is not cooperating (for the record, HughesNet is awful). So since I am trying to update my blog a bit, probably the biggest news around here is that Thane's place on the autism spectrum has been refined to Asperger's Syndrome.

It's nice to have a more targeted diagnosis than PDD-NOS, and Asperger's is something we've wondered about for awhile now. When he was 2 years and 8 months, he was moderately speech delayed and that generally rules out an Aspie diagnosis. When re-evaluated at 5 years and 5 months, his language is no longer delayed other than as it relates to social speech. He continues to be very concrete, and will still say, "No, I'm Thaney," if you refer to him by anything other than Thane, Thaney, or if I call him Lovey.

The team suggested that he attend public school. He does require extra support, which generally isn't available in private schools nearby, unless the school is specifically for special needs children. The problem with a special needs school is the lack of typical peers.

One of the reason's I haven't posted here in awhile is that I couldn't think of much positive to say about the thought of transitioning Thane to Kindergarten. I don't think Child Development Services nor the school district prepare parents well (though, in fairness, it is more the job of a case manager, which we don't have because we don't have MaineCare and can't get one without it. This is something I find really stupid because it means I have to accept subsidizing in order to get services, rather than allowing me to pay out of pocket.)

Thane visited the school where Braeden goes and that was a bad fit. I really should have known beforehand that it was a bad idea, but the thought of both children in the same place was so appealing. It was a bad experience for Thane, and one that has left me feeling guilty and questioning whether he was even safe there. Obviously he survived, but I want more for my little guy.

So it looks like as much as I dislike public school and it's factory mentality, our district seems to be offering the right things. He'll have a one-on-one, he'll be allowed to arrive late after the crowds. A one-on-one will meet us out front to walk him in from the car. He'll get speech and occupational therapy. We will keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. It has taken a long time to reach this decision because there are so many pros and cons related to the various schools around here. I just hope we've made the right choice!