I shouldn’t say battle.  Today’s meeting at school wasn’t a battle.  It was actually a very cooperative effort, with professional educators who care about my daughter.  But I prepared for the meeting as if I was preparing for battle.  I studied every website I could find, called friends for pep talks, outlined my talking points and baked muffins.  Yeah… stayed up late, baking muffins, so they would think I’m more normal mom and less crazy-out-of-her-gourd mom.

My daughter’s elementary school has done everything they can to help her.  She’s a 5th grader, 2E or Twice Exceptional… in the Gifted and Talented program, but struggling with ADHD, Sensory Processing Issues, written expression and possibly learning disabilities we’ve yet to discover.

Speaking of discovering, I’m taking her for more testing tomorrow morning… with a Learning Disabilities Specialist we’ve hired outside the school.  I sat in on last week’s testing session and was blown away by my daughter’s mind.  Some of the stuff on the test, I couldn’t do.  The Learning Specialist gave her numbers and had her repeat them backwards.  I had to stop at 3 numbers.  My daughter could do 6.  She said she saw the numbers in her head and then read them backwards.  The Learning Specialist said, “Did you know about this?”  I said, “Well, yes… that’s how she studies her spelling.”  She said my daughter’s visual memory will be a powerful tool.

I need a code name for my daughter, so I don’t have to keep writing, ‘my daughter’.  I’ll ask her what she wants to call herself.

So back to the meeting at school,  I’m too tired to explain tonight.  11 people in a room, intimidating and exhausting.