After 3 full months of unusually hot temps and humidity here in Santa Barbara, the summer heatwave of 2015 has finally broke and we’re enjoying the beautiful weather we’re known for in our little corner of paradise. There’s actually a chill in the air this evening and it’s a relief to finally move on to a new, cooler season…just in time for some traditional fall activities:
Fall often includes Rudy’s annual IEP meeting as well. Each year the many different folks who play a vital part in Rudy’s developmental and educational progress come together to discuss specific goals and action steps to meet those goals in what is called an Individual Education Plan (IEP). IEP meetings can be long and mind-boggling with the amount of detailed information that is communicated and opened to a group discussion but I’m so grateful for the investment of time that goes into these meetings. I’m grateful Rudy’s team is willing to take the time necessary to insure we’re all on the same page and that there is continuity in his care in general. Rolf and I are humbled by the number of gifted individuals it takes to not only educate Rudy but also make it possible for him to even attend school. (For example, we discovered this month that there was a change in Rudy’s enteral supply provider and it took a couple of weeks to get the prescribed Pediasure Rudy is usually fed. While we waited for delivery from the new provider, we ran out of feeds and so we headed to Costco to get the Pediasure they sell…not exactly the same formula but we figured it was close enough. Little did we know what we were in for! Poor Rudy ended up with a crazy, severe case of diarrhea that we couldn’t get under control…even with the GI doc recommendations! If it weren’t for Nurse Sara and her willingness to deal with the blow outs that occurred at school, we wouldn’t have been able to send Rudy to school for two whole weeks! A relatively simple dilemma but with some pretty serious consequences without the extra support Rudy receives.) Rudy didn’t meet all of his developmental and academic goals from last year but he made progress in most areas and we remain grateful for progress of any kind! Slow but steady is good…we’ll take that any day! 🙂
Rudy's Beat 
What a wonder to see the village taking such loving time to educate “our” miracle Rudy. Love hearing about all the Geyling activities. Congrats, Olivia.
Yes…it warms my heart to hear about all the educationers and nurse practitioners who are dedicated to Rudy’s development!!!
And then, of course, it got HOT AGAIN TODAY. WHAT THE?? Love these pictures – and we know a lot about IEP meetings as 3 of our grown kids are special ed teachers – orientation and mobility skills for blind and low-vision students. Big, big jobs these folks do.
Oh Trish, I’ve never had parents try to take a picture of the attenders of an IEP meeting. It is a feat to get all of those people together in one room. Too cute of you for wanting to get a photo.