A Revelation

We had spring parent/teacher conferences last night.

These conferences always make me nervous.  It's the same thing, usually.  First we sit with J's teacher, and they tell us how he is exceeding every expectation, he gets top scores in all the testing, his behavior and attitude are excellent, that he is a joy to have in their class.  It's short but sweet, and we're sent on our way.

Then we go to A's conference.  We always end up wishing we had scheduled double the amount of time they allot to us, as there is always more to talk about.  Without fail, every teacher loves him.  He is sweet, funny, eager to please.  But they just can't put a finger on the issues he has.  His testing scores leave something to be desired, his academics are unpredictable, and he seems to occasionally shut down.  His behavior is great, and he is also a joy to have in their class, but nobody seems to know how to help him be more successful.  Not for lack of trying, mind you, his school has been tireless about trying to help the kid out.

But last night we may have had a breakthrough.  After his regular teacher conference, we went down to meet with his reading specialist.  After our fall conference, when my hubby pointed out to her that his eyes seem to "bounce around the page" when he reads, she did some checking around and some careful observation of him, and believes she may know part of what's going on with him.

He has a stutter.

I had no idea there were different kinds of stuttering.  There isn't just the kind of stutter that the king had in the King's Speech.  There is a reading stutter.  Where for some reason, when he is reading, his mind stutters on the information.  This could absolutely affect the way he sees words, numbers, or any information on a page or a computer screen.  It can cause him to bounce around when he's trying to read aloud, or when he's trying to do math problems, or whatever.

Halleluja!  People, this is the first time that someone has suggested something to me that completely made sense!  I could dance around the room.  I have something to work with.  I think we need to take him to an eye doctor and see if there are exercises to help train his eyes, but I think we can work with this and actually find some tools to help him.  Oh, I feel encouraged.

So we left the conferences feeling light, encouraged, proud.  It was awesome.

My kids are the best.  I love them so much, and I am so proud of them, and I can't believe what miracles little people can be.  Somehow they are turning into such fine young people, and I honestly feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, and by the Grace of God, it is working out well.  I am blessed to have my amazing hubby, who is so connected with his kids, and so creative, that he can put his finger on things in a way that I just cannot.  He really sees them, and he identifies with them, because in so many ways he was like them. He has a remarkable memory for what it was like to be a young boy, and that helps him understand and guide our little men.

It was a good night.  And today they don't have school so right now A is parked in front of the television watching Bugs Bunny and J is making himself a ham omelet.  It's going to be a good day.