Qualified

We had our meeting today with the Exceptional Children's team about James's evaluations, and we think it went very well. James did qualify for special education services for next year, but let me be very clear that they did not have any question about his cognitive abilities (in fact, the reports frequently used the word "bright").  He qualified under Hearing Impairment (which makes sense), and the focus will be on helping him increase his use of language in classroom settings.

The evaluations were very interesting because they included both standardized testing and classroom observations. On the standardized tests and one-on-one situations, he looks fine; his skills and language are at his age level. But he's not speaking up in the classroom -- he points to things rather than asks for them, does not stand up for himself if another child takes his toy, and so on.  So, the therapy will be focused on helping him develop and use those skills in the educational/social setting.  (Of course, they'll also be keeping an eye on  his speech and language development more generally, but that's not part of the specific goals in his education plan.) They'll have a speech/language therapist, an educational specialist, and a hearing specialist come to his preschool next fall for half-hour sessions a couple of times a week, probably mostly working with him in the classroom in the course of their regular activities.  That seemed like a good plan to us.

[This photo was taken by Grandpa; he calls it "Jamesie at the speed of light."  :) ]