Step-up ( a program set up by the Adult Education system in our county) has not been the best of experiences for Stephanie. The program is designed for students with special needs that graduate from high school to have a place to "learn, work, & earn, to help achieve financial independence." Sounds great, right! Implement! The key word for this program. The reality is, it is just a glorified day care. Sure they will say it is the economy and there are no jobs. However, the facility is located in a trailer with very limited space. Lets just say that Flagler County is not where you would want to be if you have a child graduating with special needs.
Steph would attend Step-up from 9am until 1. She would help pack her
lunch after breakfast and then off we would go. I never seemed to have a
hard time getting her to go. I always received the same "Goodbye Mom"
and a hug. It was when she would step off the bus that a new
"Stephanie" would appear. Every word she said was filled with anger
towards someone on the bus and her language consisted of all the wrong
words. It would take me the rest of the day to settle her down. She
complained that someone (Sarah) ate her lunch and drank her soda. This
"Sarah" had popped up many times before, especially when she attended
high school, but we assumed it was a girl in her class. Sarah was not in
her Step-Up program. After several sudden appearances by me I was able to see that at
times she had willingly shared her lunch.
Steph was more of a worker bee
and sitting around when she wanted to work did not sit right with her.
So to make a long story short her arrival home after a not so productive
day made for a very angry Steph, add to that, not having the proper
nutrition, left her vulnerable to pick up anything that was going
around.
Everyday Steph would arrive at the store after riding the County Transportation bus for an hour muttering and using a few choice words. She never seemed to be happy.
David and I would listen to her sputtering afterwards. She had been practicing some sort of sound in her room once we arrived home. We could not figure what she was trying to say. It sounded like AAAAAAAAAA HOOOO We had laughed at the time but as days went on we realized that the word she was trying to say was not one you would want your child practicing. Her ear infections had returned and trying to find an ENT in our area that took Medicaid was useless. I will discuss this more in detail in my next post. When you have a child that is hearing impaired you tend to figure out what their sounds mean and what they are trying to say. Well it took some time but we figured this one. Soon after she let loose with a whole new vocabulary of choice words. They would seem to be used only at certain times, and I was having a very hard time getting her to change them around.
Flu season was the worst. Following the flu an ear infection would appear and instead of a few days being sick we had weeks. Finally ear surgery. As I stated before I will write more on this later.
I had started a new business after Steph had graduated from high school and lucky for me I could be available when she became real sick. It wasn't good for business but when you have a handicapped child work is the thing that suffers. Eventually I dropped Steph from the Step-Up program.
It was the best decision I had made in a long time.
