Rex & Michael

*** WARNING! If you start reading this post, you MUST read to end.****

A Must Read!  Rex by Cathleen Lewis
This is a story about a mom, her autistic son and the music that transformed their lives.  Rex has been profiled twice by 60 minutes, so perhaps your aware of his music.  Regretfully, I hadn't heard of him before I read the book.  Is there some invention out there that can scan the TV Guide and alert you to the fact that there's a program on that day regarding a praticular subject you're interested-- in my case it would be  autism.  That woud be awesome.  What would be on your list?

But I regress, back to the book.  Out of 60 reveiws on Amazon.com it received all 5 Stars.  It boils down to this and I know it's probably because of the situation Michael is in right now, but the parts that really stood out to me were these two chapters: A System out of Touch, and an IEP. 

The school system and his educators were out of touch with Rex's needs.  His mom made an unepected visit to the school and found him in a time-out (literally - outside).  When his Mom asked questions she found out that he was wasn't allowed to go to P.E. & recess, because he had to finish the work he'd missed during timeouts.  His IEP wasn't being followed and the teacher had him on a behavoir plan, which Mom knew nothing about.  Rex's Mom demanded an observation day (hours long) and a follow-up meeting with the team of district specialists and various teachers.  She was her own advocate.  I was amazed at her determination to get what Rex needed without alienating those that could help him. Rex had some challenging weaknesses, but he also had some amazing strengths.  They just had to figure out how use those strengths to overcome the weaknesses.

The law may provide services for a child, but sadly it doesn't guarantee the quality of those services.  And as the system becomes bogged down by more and more autistic kids, the Disabilty Acts people can't keep up with the cases.  Rex, has a happy ending in the book and that's what I want for my grandson, who is also on the autistic spectrum.

My daughter has fought for services for Michael since the day he came into their foster home and it continues today.  She's getting worn down by these continual battles.  He's been in four different schools.  That may not sound like very many to you, but the time it's taken to actually find them, weed out the dozens that won't accept him, have waiting lists or won't meet his needs takes days or even weeks.  Plus getting all his therapies arranged to all the locations and time schedule conflicts sorted out it's mind boggling.  Physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy etc.  This in an ongoing and endless endeavor (if the school changes everything else has to also), not to mention summers - that seasonal delimna all working moms face.

Mommy & Michael

Right now Amanda & Derek could use your prayers.  They are stuck between a rock and a hard place with their current school.  Like Cathleen, they see Michael's strengths and potential and want the best for him.  Not only that, but when they adopted him they promised the state that they would advocate for his special needs.  What Michael needs right now is a one on one aid of his very own - but don't stop there, join me in praying for God's will for Michael's life.  Pray for doors to open in any area that God sees fit for Michael - wherther it be diagnotic testing, chelation, DAN Dr's,  or even a plain old miracle.  Pray for God to open doors, windows and crevices we can shimmy through.  Pray for a super-awesome aid, a perfect match for Michael.  This grandson, means the world to me. 

Michael is way behind physically and the effort he has to make to do ordinary things sometimes makes him visably shake at times.  His sister, two years younger passes him up on playground equipment and wants to cut in front of him because he takes to long.  Imagine his frustration.  When he's over tired and stressed out his Tourette's gets worse and physically makes it impossible for him to pay attention (with his eyes blinking, facial grimaces and head jerking around).  I've heard him ask to go to bed, because he just can't deal with it anymore.  It breaks my heart.  He's come so far....... won't you join me in praying for help for this sweet little boy?

Before he was our legally, he was ours in our hearts.

Adoption Day!

Please comment below if you are praying for Michael, it would be such an encouragement for me and all that love this little guy.

And if you're a blogger, put a short blurb about Michael on your blog and my prayer request with a link back here to this post, so your viewer can add their name to the post if they are committing to pray for Michael.

I promise to update as God answers our prayers.   Thank you from the bottom of my heart!