checking in 8 years later

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Posted By A Son-Rise Message Board Participant on August 18, 1999 at 17:13:54:

We attended the Option Institute with our daughter Emilie (then 5) about 8 years ago. We did an Option program with her for about a year and a half. It was an incredible experience for all of us. I'd say one of the most important things we learned, and still practice, is to be your own best expert and trust yourself. When we felt we had done the Option program long enough, we decided to move on, and used our powers and abilities to locate the best type of school and to become involved and make it the best we could. Emilie was in Special Ed for about 5 years, and eventually we saw that academically she was ahead of most of the other kids (who were mostly not autistic types), but socially she needed more. We started looking into "inclusion" programs, and found that small programs existed in the NYC public school system. Emilie has now been through 5th, 6th and 7th grade in a regular NYC middle school, in an "inclusion" program. She has a modified academic curriculum and and inclusion coordinator who works with us and the teachers to make the program work. As time has gone by, Emilie has become more and more motivated to fit in and to try to make friends (despite the fact that it doesn't come easily or naturally for her), which really shows what some motivation can do. All these years have been, and continue to be amazing. I tell this brief story for a few reasons: to make our experiences known and available to others; to gain insight from other's experiences which I hope others will share; to encourage others to give their anecdotal results for the benefit of all. Please respond by posting or by e-mail.
Sincerely, happy, and present -- Barry

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