Last week when Janine overlapped with Cari, she asked me if I had talked to the Regional Center. I said no because why would I and they certainly don't call me. She said that Raquel is only 3 months out before she will be leaving her current ABA program at age three and that a "transition phase" is supposed to be happening now. This is when my social worker, Ken, sets up a meeting with me and our School District so they can start their own evaluation process on Raquel. Her current therapists are invited to this meeting, however, due to scheduling conflicts, may just send them a report with their feedback. Raquel will be assessed by all new therapists from the school district. She will have another evaluation (possibly) from the Regional Center psychologist in January to see if she can be given a diagnosis. They will also be doing an IEP (Individualized Education Program) at this point as well. This is when they detail specific goals for her to help her succeed in school.
According to Ken, this Transition Meeting does a few things:
- Introduces me and Raquel into our School District.
- Introduces me and Raquel to the School Psychologist named Lorraine. Mary, our current speech therapist, works for the district and speaks very highly of Lorraine and says we will be in great hands. Great news! (Side note: Even though Mary works for our school district, she will no longer treat Raquel. Through the district, she only works with children who have Apraxia or who are hearing impaired.)
- Lorraine will review Raquel's abilities from the initial assessments and compare her to where she's at now. She will then assemble Raquel's new "Team" of therapists.
- I will have a chance to voice any concerns and ask questions.
Raquel's next assessment with the Regional Center Psychologist can take place anytime between the transition meeting and when the IEP is done. Ken also said I wasn't required to have her re-evaluated if I didn't feel it was necessary. I'll need to talk to our current therapists regarding this. I was extremely disappointed with how her original assessment at Regional was handled and a good part of me doesn't want her subjected to any more stress than necessary. Ken did state that the school district will be doing their own evaluations and could simply report their findings back to the Regional Center in order to continue their services.
So how do they transition her to all new therapists? Cold turkey! Since her 3rd birthday is on a Monday, she'll have her last ABA session the previous Friday. The therapists she meets with weekly will have their last sessions the week before her birthday as well. And then what? Well, we're not supposed to be in contact with any of them anymore and Raquel just moves on to her new program in the school district. It's kind of weird. You would think they would transition gradually - for everyone's sake. To have Raquel go from pretty intense, in-home, daily sessions to a school setting seems difficult - especially for a child so demanding of routine. But, maybe switching everything all at once makes it easier on her. We'll have to see.
I have mixed emotions about it all. On one hand, I'm concerned about not having the daily support I've become accustomed to. Every day I have a trained therapist (or two) in-house that I can ask questions, get feedback, learn techniques from, etc. And I take advantage of this a lot. On the other hand, I am looking forward to getting my life back to somewhat normalcy, if there is such a thing now, where therapy will take place outside the home so I will be able to dive back in to my work and have a break from it all. But thinking that way always makes me feel and sound so selfish.
Raquel has had decent ABA sessions so far this week. Unfortunately, Gabby triggered two sensory tantrums this afternoon so she may no longer be able to participate in Raquel's therapy - at least in the capacity she has been. Tomorrow night we have our next Team Meeting after her regular session.
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