Wow! I hate when more than a week goes by and I don't blog :-(
So I've returned from the 11th International Fragile X Conference in St. Louis...which was hellish to get to, after a 9 hour wait in the airport, but after a short nap in the hotel from 4-7 am, Lisa and I were ready to go on Thursday morning!
The conference was full of great information, but I have to learn that I must arrive the day before it begins and leave after it ends....I definitely had NO time to hang with some people I wanted to hang with! I did meet fellow Fragile X Moms and Super Bloggers Erika and Kristie in person, which was a treat, albeit a brief one! Next time ladies, we'll lunch....maybe Detroit in 2010? How about end of July? MBL....shout out to you BELLA! When it's in your town, you'll show me around!
The conference itself is bittersweet. One part of me feels so empowered and motivated to raise awareness and care for my children. The other part is that brutal reality of it all, and their futures when I'm gone. Balance is the key I think....a fine tuning if you will of the pros and cons of raising children with any kind of special needs.
I will blog separately about this, but a film was shown called "Including Samuel" which was mind blowing in the sense that there are schools that "include" children in schools is every true sense of the word, which is rare. The documentary film was made by a father (Dan Habib) of a disabled child. Very powerful! This film should be a MUST for every Teacher, Principal, etc...where special children are included with typically developing peers.
More later....pictures too! I promise!
PS - My mom is doing much better, thanks to all who contacted me...she much less dizzy and re-gaining her strength back!
6 comments:
It was fun seeing you, too. I wish we would have had more time to spend together! And I loved Including Samuel as well.
Thanks for adding a link for Including Samuel; I watched the trailer--very good. A professor I had a couple of years ago when I was taking my education classes had a son with high-functioning autism. One of the classes she taught was "Exceptional Children," and she was so big on full inclusion no matter what! She painted such a beautiful picture of how it should be, but unfortunately, it often isn't working like that in the classrooms.
Hi -- I have just recently started to read your blog as my son was just diagnosed with Fragile X, too. Thanks for sharing the video information. It looks really interesting -- we had our first IEP meeting yesterday so our son can begin pre-school services so it was very timely!
I do have a blog, and you are welcome to visit at sbwlw.spaces.live.com
Wendy
P, glad to hear your mom is doing much better. Sounds like you had a great time at your converence. (minus the flight there)
Can't wait to show the clip to my husband, a teacher. We struggle a lot with what is the right answer for Ian next year. His school is working toward inclusion, but when you have teachers who are not on board with it, that's a scary thought. I was a teacher once as well, and I know that if everyone's not on board, it's hard to make it work. I wish we had a school around here like the one in the clip!
Glad you were able to go to the conference. Overwhelming...yes. I think back at all the "Oh, I want to do that" ideas I got from the conference 2 years ago. But since having another child, with FX, time has gotten even more limited. I want to be supermom!!!!!
I have always wanted to attend a conference, but have not been able to afford it finanically. Being a one income family is tough sometimes, being able to stay at home with my boys is worth it.
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