School Days, School Days...

Last week Abby started back to preschool. Because of the intensity of her patching (8 hours a day), it's impossible for us to send her to school without the patch on. The knowledge that I would be sending my daughter to preschool legally blind was devastating. I met with the preschool director and teachers, and also the learning specialists the school has on staff. These are all people that care about Abby very deeply, and only want the best for her.

The first day (a Wednesday), we were all well-prepared. I took Abby to school a half-hour early, so she could acclimate to the classroom in a calmer, stress-free environment. All three teachers were there, as were both learning specialists and an intern! Abby had more attention than she knew what to do with. I was afraid that the separation would be difficult for her, as she had had some trouble even staying home with Daddy while I went to the grocery store the previous week. But, she did great! With that amount of adult attention focused on her, she felt very confident and had a wonderful day. She even tried fine-motor activities at school that she had been refusing to do at home.

The second day was not so fantastic. Because she had done well the first day, I guess we were all thinking that everything was just fine. But, without the early arrival and without all the adult attention, dropoff the second time around was a nightmare. She clung to my leg, she cried when I left, and there were no extra hands in the classroom to help the teachers deal with it. Aside from the playground incident involving the kids Abby calls, "the mean boys," she eventually recovered and had a good day, which was quite a relief.

Now that the third day is behind us, I think we've reached a point at which we understand what she needs - a little bit of an early arrival (mom's responsibility) so that the separation is a little bit calmer, watchfulness on the playground (school's responsibility) to prevent all kinds of incidents, and a little bit of one-on-one time with the learning specialists to make sure that Abby is doing the things she is supposed to do.

We are fortunate that we were enrolled in a preschool that was willing to work with us and make Abby's experience wearing her patch to school the best it could possibly be. It still is not easy for her, but the right amount of intervention makes all the difference.