Eli Update

James and I went last Friday to Eli's annual IEP (individualized education plan) meeting. His teacher and Occupational therapist just kept on praising his progress and told us several things that he does that keeps them laughing. He has quite the personality, even though he can't communicate very well yet. He does have some communication but it is very, very limited. That is our goal for this next year. His teacher, Mrs. Carrie, said that every day after naps he points to her and says, "you fired." We discovered he got that off of the movie, "The Incredibles." She said he is the king of circle time; he recognizes his name said aloud and written; he sings and does the moves to a lot of the songs. He still thrives on routine and any change in his routine causes a tantrum but he has learned to calm himself down pretty fast. He understands more words and does say "NO" when he doesn't want something. He loves the assistant principal, Mr. Peoples and Mr peoples even takes him around to other classrooms sometimes with him. So when we were there other teachers would say how much they love Eli. He rules the school, they say!
They want to keep him in school for 3 hrs. a day during the summer. We are trying to find what else we can do for him this summer. They also want him back in the same classroom (CBIP-Communication, Behavioral intervention program), at the same school, with the same teacher in the fall. I think this is the best thing for him for now. Please keep him in your prayers and pray that we will know what avenues to take to try to help him.
While we were discussing his IEP i heard yelling down the hall of the school and knew it was Eli. They weren't putting him on the bus since we were there so he threw a little fit because it was a change in routine but when he saw us he gave us his biggest smile and ran to his Dad. He looked at the teachers aids and said, "all done" while signing it at the same time. He was done with them, he had his dad. He loved being in there with us and loved the chocolate on the table. He at one point went and played with the magnetic letters on the teachers desk and brought some back to the table with him. He then proceeded to put them back in the same exact order he found them on the teachers desk. James would then mess it up and then Eli would put it back together exactly the way it was before. So it seems he has a photographic memory. We are going to try a few things to see if that is true and what else he can do. In other words, the progression is slow but there is progression and that is what's important. I love my sweet Eli!