We won! Kate is going to a fantastic school this Fall!

Kate is going to a very very special school and our school district is paying for it.  Our school district, Burgettstown, tried to convince us that Kate would be fine at their elementary school.  The schools whole entire defense was to make Kate deal with "normal" children.  To get her integrated.  Seriously.  So BJ and I hired a lawyer.  We won and now she is going to be "secluded".  The districts words.  We say, now Kate will thrive.

When I saw what this school district was doing, it made me sick.  The reason they fought us was because the special school costs of The Watson Institute a year.  It had nothing to do with what was going to help Kate, it was about the money.  Burgettstown would pay half the tuition and the State the other half.  There were people telling me, with the best intentions and experience, that we needed to "play the game".  Just send her to the public school for six months, and when they fail, you will get the school you need for her.  Well we have paid school tax here and homeschooled all our children.  We bought every piece of paper, pencil and curriculum with our money and still do with absolutely no help from Burgettstown school district.  I realized a long time ago that our children thrived with more independent classes.  Another thing was that they didn't care about her attachments.  That for six months or more she would be in their school, just to get yanked out to attend the new school.  We have protected Kate since she was born.  Surrounded her with so much care and love.  The people in her life are consistent with no drama.  Nope, we weren't going to play the game.  In the end we won.  We even get every penny back from our lawyers because we won.  It cost us time and frustration, but we are used to that.  I am offering my advocacy to anyone that thinks their school district is wrong and needs some help to get their child a proper school or program to make their child thrive.

So I have written about Kate for years now.  First about Down Syndrome and then about Autism.  So our Kate
has Down Syndrome/Autism.  I write about all the love in our family.  I write about how Kate IS a gift from God.  Now I'm going to share more.  More than I ever have.

Kate has no sense of danger.  You can walk into our kitchen and turn around and she may be running full force across the dining room table.  Our dining room/living room is a huge room with two gates.  On preventing her from the bathroom and bedrooms and one from the kitchen area.  We can't have any lamps because she broke them all!  If you have a cup of coffee or any drink for that matter, you need to hold it 
and never put it down, because she will grab it so 
quickly and dump it on the floor.

Kate is nonverbal.  She can say mum, bad girl, good girl and go away.  When she is hungry, she sits in her chair at the table or sits at the kitchen gate.  When she is thirsty, she brings me her empty sippy cup to refill.  When she wants to play with blocks, she brings  the bag to us.  When she wants a book read to her, she brings it to us.


Kate is very far from being potty trained at five years old, almost six.  So we need to change her pullup alot.  It takes two people to change her because she is not cooperative.  We go through our days, kissing and hugging Kate and reading books she loves.  She loves being outside and especially swimming in our pool.  Kate is a disabled child that needs 24/7 care.  As our family dynamics change, it will be more and more on BJ and I.  Right now we are all a team, with all our children/young adults, helping here and there.  

There are health issues also.  A cold can run from September to May.  Every stomach bug, or other illness traveling through schools and families is most likely going to get to Kate.  She needs to get her hearing tested every couple years, Down Syndrome 
tend to have hearing loss.  She has vision problems 
and sees a specialist.  She has a lot of gut problems due to yeast, that is the Autism.  Kate is on loan from our God.  We pray she has a long and healthier life.  I am very aware of probiotics, vitamins, essential oils and much more.  Sometimes I feel like a scientist!  Lol!


There are many other things, but you get the gist of it.  I don't have family and friends over much.  She doesn't play with her sweet cousins, she bit my nephew once out of frustration.  They are all around her age but she can't be included in outings or their houses.  She doesn't miss this, my heart breaks...I miss this.

Kate is the flower girl in her brother Beau's wedding.  BJ will walk her down the aisle and to a wonderful person that is going to help me through the rehearsal and wedding, and take her to the "cry room".  We aren't sure how this is all going to play out.  I may be home with her after all my mother of the groom duties 
are done.  

The reason for this blog is to show people that this isn't easy but at the same time, this is our Kate who we deeply love.  Now she will be in a wonderful school that will teach her how to communicate, feed herself and maybe someday be potty trained.  

We realize we will take care of Kate the rest of our lives.  The dual diagnosis has stopped my hope of 
independent living.

What would we change?  My answer is, what does God want for us?  He knew 100% that she was the child for us.  He has changed my heart to a kindness I can't explain.  My close friends and family can vouch for this.  I cannot stand cruelty and try to be kind to everyone, because in this world, we all carry our cross.  You never ever fully know what someone else is suffering.  God bless you all for reading this and all your kindness.