Life after the Prom...

Brendan had a wonderful time at the Prom! Thank you for all the well wishes.

He enjoyed dinner and the music - to a point. He moved from the main dance hall to the quiet room and eventually wanted to stay in the quiet room. It was past time for his night meds, so Dad got the call about 9:15pm (the Prom started at 6:30pm and was scheduled to end at 10:00pm) and since he had spent the evening in the parking lot - yay Dad! - he was right there to pick up Brendan. They arrived home about 10pm and Brendan was wide awake and very excited until about midnight. He had a good time and he had his trusty toy horse in the pocket of his jacket to keep him company :o)

The next day his special needs swim team - the Stingrays - battled Leaps 'n Boundz at a swim meet at the Rose Bowl. The lad swam in two races, but there was much disappointment that he didn't swim in his signature race - the breast stroke. But he had a great time. After 3 hours of baking in the sun, Dad and Ciara and the swimmer headed home.

Yesterday was Mom's first I.E.P. (individualized education plan) meeting at Brendan's school. All went fairly well and the goals that have been set for Brendan for the next 12 months are simply wonderful and will help him become more independent in his world. Today he assisted one of the classroom aides in making brownies and preparing chicken for the student run salad bar. Yay Brendan! The IEP was such a positive experience and a far cry from the meetings of old. Under the required "strengths" section on the IEP the team came up with the following: "Friendly, happy, enjoys coming to school, eager to learn, shows pride in his accomplishments, likes verbal praise, willing to try new things, puts forth great effort in all he does." For those of you who have journeyed with us along the way in Brendan's education you know the enormity of these words. And even if you're new to our journey it's pretty darn awesome.