-Last Monday morning, as I was watching the list of school closings, I noticed the name of the private autism school in our area. That got me thinking, just a little.

-Later that day, I read this post about a Dream School. That got me thinking just a little more.

-Thursday morning I called the autism school and left a message asking if we were still on their waiting list.

-Thursday at noon we had our MFE and IEP meetings. I summed the meetings up to my mom (and hopefully didn't offend her) by saying "I felt like I was sitting at a table with 10 of you." What I meant by that was; almost everyone around the table seemed smitten by Henry. They are all charmed by his intelligence and his messy blond hair and his smallness. They go on and on about all the things he can do well.

Now, there are a lot of things he can do well, as you readers know, because I brag about them here all the time. And I'm certainly not suggesting that the specialists at Henry's school should bombard me with the things he doesn't do well! I think I am just getting the feeling that no one is challenging him, aside from his main teacher. And, because she challenges him, he exhibits behaviors with her that no one else sees, and these behaviors prevent her from being able to get farther with him. See the cycle?

When he was 6, it was enough that he could function in a classroom and get something out of his day. But now I feel like we need to have bigger-picture goals, and instead of trying to get this kid to fit in to a regular-ed classroom by 4th grade (which seems to be the aim of the program), we should be building upon his interests and helping him blossom.

Rather than wringing our hands because his math ability is below grade level, I'd like to see someone say "wow, Henry shows a lot of interest in Paris/the Presidents/Big Cats. Let's have him do a research project on that." Of course, we still need to focus on the math, but not at a detriment to his other skills.

I know, I'm living in a dream world. Or a homeschool world :-)

-Thursday night during Thomas' gymnastics class, I struck up a conversation with the aide of an autistic girl. (I've noticed them for weeks. Why was it this week that I decided to approach them?) I asked the girl's age and told the aide about Henry. "I'm a special ed teacher," she said, "I teach at a school called [autism school I called that day]." I told her that I was hoping to still be on their waiting list. The young woman asked me my name and Henry's, and said that she would ask someone about us. She seemed like a neat young woman (I mean, she teaches all day and then works with the kids in the evenings too) and it just seemed, to quote Drama Mama, serendipitous.

-Someone from the autism school called me back Friday, and said that we are "second on the waiting list for our birth year", so it was a "realistic possibility" that we would be getting a call for an interview.

Without having visited the school (they won't do that until you're called for an interview), it's too soon to say if this is something I hope for. But it is nice to have options. And I feel like Bill and I are getting a better idea of what we want for our son, rather than just having the other experts tell us what we should want for him.

The current situation is good. I know that we are lucky. But it's not the best. And why not be hoping for the best?