Step one.

It has taken a few days to let my trip to Greenville County-Pre-school Special Services sink in. I didn't start out on Thursday with the intention of going there, but that's what happened that morning. Just like usual I took Ryan to school with Lilly in tow. I didn't have any plans that morning, so after I took Ryan to school I decided to drive over to CDS to pick up the mail for the Down Syndrome Family Alliance. I knew going in that Pre-school Special Services is located in the CDS and as I was walking in I saw their sign and the thought crossed my mind to drop-in and speak to them about options for Ryan for the 2008-2009 school year. I picked-up the mail and decided right then and there to go upstairs to their offices.

All and all this was a mistake. First, and I know this is silly, but I was not dressed for this visit. As soon as I entered their office area and noticed that everyone else was dressed in business attire I felt like a tired mom in faded in jeans with messy hair and a kid slung her hip. Oh wait, that's exactly what I felt and looked like. After a couple inquiries I am introduced to a service coordinator and she takes a few notes about Ryan and tells me that if we are still interested in entering the school system in late spring to give her a call. She says all of this as she is passing a business card to me. She never asked me to sit down. That was it.

I am not sure what I expected and I fully recognize that I walked in unannounced, but I don't think having an appointment would have made the visit any different. I guess I wanted someone to ask me what I want for Ryan. Once again this service coordinator just assumed that we want him to be in a pre-school special ed class. After I realized she wasn't going to ask me that all important question; I told her that we want Ryan to be in the most inclusive setting possible. I shared that I am aware that there are pre-school classes within the school system that have both typically developing children and special needs children in them. I told her that we would be interested in placing Ryan in such a class. She then went on to explain that the school system piloted that program last year; it has been a success and they are now trying to incorporate it into several sites around the county. Then she repeated that I should just call her at the end in April or May and tell her that we want Ryan to enter Greenville County. This brief encounter opened a can of worms for me. It just seems to me that there should be more to this than a simply phone call at the end of the year. There's questions brewing. Thankfully I made it out of the office with the service coordinator's card. That's pretty good for me.

The next step is to do more research, write down all my questions so that when I speak with the service coordinator again I will be prepared for it. This isn't over yet.