Age 4, 5, 6, 7?

Wow! I feel like so much has happened in the past 24 hours, I don't even know where to start.

First of all, the school administrator, counselor and dean had a GREAT meeting with Dr. C. They could have stayed there all day. I met with the administrator this morning and she was overwhelmed with Dr. C.'s knowledge. She wants to start sending kids her way. In fact, she actually said that she's surprised no one has "snatched her up". She also said that she's afraid, once more people find out about her, she may be harder to schedule. She was able to talk with Dr. C. about Jared, in particular, and got a current plan to help him in the class. Obviously, with Dr. C.'s final evaluation, we'll know even more how to help him. She said that you can tell how Dr. C. truly believes that each child is uniquely created and cares about them each so much. Yes... we're in the middle of a Dr. C. lovefest! {haha} Nah... but she is the most unbelievable blessing from God for us!

Another thing I learned was that my friend, Lisa, found out the results of her daughter's test. The test stated that she has all those APD issues we know about, but overall, her intelligence is so high... so she's "fine". Yep! Man, have I heard that before!! As we've discovered throughout all this research, APD kids have a higher intelligence so they look "fine", even when there are neurological issues. It sounded similar to Jared's test with the school district. Poor Lisa definitely feels like she wasted a whole lot of money. Dr. C. is going to run through the diagnosis, as a courtesy, to see what she can do to help.

And, finally... how did Jared do? Well, the first cool thing about yesterday's test is that the man giving the test - Mr. Simms - is well known for his knowledge. In fact, my mom has worked with him. He has written Bible curriculum that many people use. He even played the piano in my good friend, Cherith's wedding! All that aside, he is so nice. Jared liked him. Since I observed the test, I was able to see how my son learns. Fascinating.

Jared had to perform a series of tasks and then at the end of the evaluation, Mr. Simms was able to classify him into an age group, based on his performance.  For example, if he built a tower of blocks, does he use both hands, intermittently, to build it exactly like the facilitator said? Yes. he was "age 6" for that. I was completely impressed at how well Jared was doing... so much better than he does on his homework from school. He saw a shape and had to draw it on his paper. Unfortunately, he drew it the size of the entire paper and used a bunch of paper. I guess, if he were a grown-up, we might wonder if that has to do with his ego. Unfortunately, in this particular task, he was "age 4 1/2". He answered a question about his birthday party at "age 7". Then, he finished a drawing of a man and was at "age 5". Overall, he was around "age 5". Mr. Simms said that it confirms why we held him back in school, but it's still hard to hear that your son is delayed. He just turned 6, and he tested at barely 5 for most things. Crush. Shatter. I guess I should have expected it, but it was still hard to hear.

"So what happens now?" Mr. Simms replied, "That's why Dr. Champagne is here. She's doing her tests to determine why he's delayed and figure out how to fix it."

He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord God Almighty is his name. Amos 4:13 (NIV)