This past week Jason, my mother and I met with Springfield Public Schools ECSE to go over all of Cruz's evaluations. He had 5 separate tests that were administered on different days. The special education preschool is about 25 minutes from my house. The school itself is a diamond in the rough. It is in a not so great location but it's bright and colorful, shiny and new, and full of hope. We all sat down around a conference table and the first thing out of his caseworkers mouth was, "Cruz is very bright, very very bright." We all sighed relief. During our two hour meeting we discussed the results of each one of his tests. Fortunately, each one of his testing results seemed accurate and consistent with how he is majority of the time. Cognitively we scored average and seemed to actually score above average on visual reception, memory, and block building design. His extreme difficulty with expressive language brought his overall score down. Their findings were concurrent with the diagnosis of Apraxia, SPD, and social/emotional delays. So, Cruz is being admitted full time to morning preschool. The school bus will pick him up and bring him back home. We got to tour the facility and meet his teacher. There will be no more than 6 kids in his class with one teacher and two aids. In addition, he will also receive 90 minutes of specialized speech therapy every week and 30 minutes of occupational therapy every week. We are so excited for him. I know he is going to have a blast. I've been very emotional this past week watching the progression. Nine months ago this little guy could only say mama, dada, and no. He couldn't produce the 'e', 'o', 'y', 'i' sounds or majority of the consonants. He wouldn't hold eye contact, he wasn't happy, he had screaming fits for hours on end. He would run his head into the floor. Now, my son is a different child. I know God has been answering our prayers and I am so thankful for the medication we finally put him on. It has made a world of a difference. We really hesitated and procrastinated on using any kind of medication. After exhausting all other efforts we agreed to try them. He is so much happier now. He is starting to sleep better. He still wakes up during the night but he goes to bed earlier than midnight, usually around nine. He hasn't had any of his major screaming fits since he started the medication. Everyone that is around him is amazed at how he is suddenly friendlier, more engaging, and pleasant. Today his speech therapist came, who we love and will be devastated to have to part ways with in a few weeks. Cruz has been asking for her all week. She told us that he has one of the most severe cases of Apraxia that she's ever seen. But, and there is always a but.... he is making major improvements. This kid is going to have an amazing story. Sitting here now on the computer, I can hear him in the backyard with Franklin just singing his little heart out. The other night I was putting him to bed and I just laid there next to him in the dark looking up at the stars on his cieling. I ran my fingers through his thick hair and realized how big he is getting. Tears filled my eyes as I realized only a few months ago I was pulling my hair out at the bottom of the barrel not sure how to get through each hour with him. Here in the still quiet of the night snuggled up with his favorite blankets I thanked God for the tremendous progress and growth he has accomplished. I know God is going to continue to do amazing things with Cruz and I am so humbled.
