To school or not to school?

Well, our Babies Can't Wait (BCW) service coordinator came out to see our Blazer. She popped the question that I have so been dreading. I knew it was coming, but just not this soon. She asked me what our plan is for Blaze's schooling. Oh my! I don't know. He's only two! School already???? Really???? 

My hubby and I are on different pages when it comes to this subject. We knew when we adopted Blaze that things would be so different from our birth children. Blaze's needs are so much greater. We have to consider everything very carefully when making decisions, because our little boy has unique needs. 

Blaze can't walk. Blaze can't talk. Blaze is deaf. Blaze has vision loss. Blaze has very limited sign language (even though he has been in classes since he was about 4 months old).  He can't eat like other kids do (only pureed foods). He also has a lot of medical issues.

Sending him off to school scares me. It scares me BAD! However, I feel Blaze needs to go to school. My hubby would like for Blaze to be home schooled. Although our other children have been home schooled, I don't feel that it's the best choice for Blaze. I think he needs to be around other children like himself. 

 I would love for Blaze to go to a deaf school. However our choices are VERY limited in this state. Our BCW coordinator said we should really consider moving out of our state. We can't do that. That's just not an option for us. So she discussed with us the deaf schools that are here. We are already familiar with the Atlanta Speech school. Blaze already goes there every few months to meet with his audiologist and for his regular testing. But, Atlanta Speech school doesn't take kids with other disabilities, just hearing problems, so they aren't an option. Then we have the Atlanta deaf school. They are 2 hours away on a good traffic day. Plus, after dropping him off I'd have to drive back and pick him up in the evening. It would take almost 8 hours for me of just driving. Next, we have Cave Springs Deaf School. It's not as far, but still about an hour drive back and forth every morning and afternoon. So about 4+ hours on the road every day if I have to take him. Then we have the public school system. Our BCW coordinator feels that Blaze will not do well there. She feels the public school system will not be able to meet all of Blaze's needs. Plus she said in her 15 years at BCW she's only met one other child like Blaze. She believes the public school system will let him fall through the cracks. I don't want that for my baby. I believe Blaze has a lot of potential and is way smarter than most realize. Those are our options...so very limited. 

The only good thing that I got out of our meeting is that Blaze will keep both his OT and PT in our home, even after he outgrows the BCW program at age 3 (next Feb). We will also be able to keep going to McKenna Farms for his other therapies. So his therapies won't change when he turns 3, that we are very thankful for. We have the option to start letting the school system handle all or some of his therapy (starting next year),  however the therapy they provide does not even compare to what he receives now at home and at McKenna Farms. He needs intensive therapy to keep moving forward. So the public school system is NOT an option to us. However trying to figure out how we can do schooling so far away and still get all of his therapies in is going to be quite a challenge. 

We have to make some tough decisions over the next few weeks. We will have to meet with our Board Of Education in August to discuss our decisions. Between now and then we are going to try to meet with Cave Springs and hopefully tour the school. This is by far one of the biggest decisions we've had to make for Blaze.

I just want the best for our little boy and I will do whatever I have to do to make sure he is always taken care of. I met with the BOE last year when we had our foster child  "Baby Girl" and I mentioned to them then that we had Blaze coming up. I warned them then that they had never met a mom like me. I told them that they probably won't like me very much. I am very picky when it comes to how my kids are cared for. VERY PICKY and even more so when it comes to my Blaze. They laughed, but I'm serious. He is my heart. He depends on me for everything and I'm going to do my best to never let him down.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,and he will direct thy paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6