Time is getting closer for Rachel to go to Africa and as the time passes there is still much to do. We would appreciate your prayers at this time. First of all, her passport has not arrived. She applied 11.5 weeks ago and they are very backed up right now. She needs to get her passport and her Visa SOON! Although it is possible to go to Kenya with just a passport, should the country of Kenya decide to not grant her a Visa for some reason, she would have to come home alone. Her mom would really like to know that all the paperwork is in place before she leaves Atlanta.
Secondly, she goes Friday to get the rest of her shots and medicine. I know all of this is to protect her, but the thought of intentionally injecting her with several potentially deadly diseases is a little nerve racking for me--those of you who know me well know that I am severely allergic to Drs. and most medications!
Lastly, she is very close to having all her funds in place for this trip. We are so grateful to all who have generously supported her in this faith venture. She still needs about $500 and we are trusting God to provide that also.
I am really excited for her to experience this time in Kenya and know that God is going to do amazing things to and through her. I believe she will experience the greatest joy and deepest sorrow as she serves these children and families in Kenya. I pray that she will have a much greater appreciation of God's unconditional love and a much stronger hatred for the Enemy.
I know that preparing me to let her go is a time of faith testing and faith growing for me. I think I understand the risks involved and the potential good that she can accomplish, but letting her go is a stretch for me. I think of the thousands of parents who have sent their children on to a foreign country as full time missionaries, and my release is so small. I am reminded that my Heavenly Father sent His Son on a mission trip one time and my gratitude far outweighs my current fears. Thank you God for letting us play a small part in what you are doing.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
Successful travels
We are home from our whirlwind trip to NC. Thanks for all the prayers, we had a safe trip and even spent a day in Greensboro taking care of several business issues and visiting with friends. We also got some confirmation on some of the concerns we have had regarding Ryan's learning differences. I will take a few moments here to recap our trip.
We traveled to Chapel Hill to meet with a couple of learning specialists at the Center for Student Success. The Center is a part of the organization All Kind of Minds. Dr. Mel Levine, a pediatrician, began looking at how and why children process information. When the labels ADD and ADHD became very fashionable, Dr. Levine was much more concerned as to why some children have the difficulties and some do not. He developed a system whereby a student can be evaluated and have a neurodevelopment profile defining the student's strengths and weaknesses. Once this is done, strategies are developed to help the student use his/her strengths and work around his/her weaknesses. The evaluation is done by educational specialists and pediatric neurodevelopmentalists.
The whole process was very respectful and positive. Ryan spent about 4 hours with the clinicians while Edgar and I sat in a room observing the whole process via a computer monitor and headsets. At the end of the morning, we went to a long lunch while the clinicians conferred. After lunch, we met together and they told Ryan what a terrific brain he has and explained some of what they had learned about how he thinks. It was important that through out the entire process Ryan was included and we all did our best to explain to him why we were there and what we were doing. We will get a detailed report in 2-3 weeks but this is a brief summary:
Assets:
1. Receptive language: understands what he hears and reads
2. Expressive language: communicates his ideas
3. Memory: remembering, storing, retrieving what he has learned
4. Higher order cognition: being a good thinker
5. Sequential ordering: recognizing and putting things in proper order
6. Gross Motor Functions: large motor coordination
Areas to Work on and Around
1. Attention Controls:
A. Processing controls--having trouble processing input deeply, staying focused,
getting distracted, and taking 'mind trips'--especially with visual input
B. Mental effort--running out of fuel to process
2. Graphomotor function: handwriting
One very interesting thought was that he needs to see and ENT and possibly have his adenoids removed. Although he gets enough sleep, it is not necessarily restful sleep and therefore when new info is presented, he responses by being very tired and listless.
At any rate, there is much more to come but we think he will repeat first grade and go to the local public school. Our prayers now are that he will not have to wait 3 months to get an IEP (individualized educational plan). Once he has the IEP he can begin to get special services. I have expressed three main concerns with the assistant principal: Ryan needs a nurturing teacher who is OK with hugging him some, he cannot do a lot of homework--he struggles so with writing, and a 6 hour school day is huge for him. We also want to protect his self image and help him be a confident learner.
We rest in the fact that we know he is 'fearfully and wonderfully made', and we are so grateful that God entrusted him to our care. He brings such joy to our home and we know that with God's grace he will have a wonderful year next year.
Thank you again for your prayers and concerns. I will try to let you know as we learn more and discover practical strategies to best help him.
We traveled to Chapel Hill to meet with a couple of learning specialists at the Center for Student Success. The Center is a part of the organization All Kind of Minds. Dr. Mel Levine, a pediatrician, began looking at how and why children process information. When the labels ADD and ADHD became very fashionable, Dr. Levine was much more concerned as to why some children have the difficulties and some do not. He developed a system whereby a student can be evaluated and have a neurodevelopment profile defining the student's strengths and weaknesses. Once this is done, strategies are developed to help the student use his/her strengths and work around his/her weaknesses. The evaluation is done by educational specialists and pediatric neurodevelopmentalists.
The whole process was very respectful and positive. Ryan spent about 4 hours with the clinicians while Edgar and I sat in a room observing the whole process via a computer monitor and headsets. At the end of the morning, we went to a long lunch while the clinicians conferred. After lunch, we met together and they told Ryan what a terrific brain he has and explained some of what they had learned about how he thinks. It was important that through out the entire process Ryan was included and we all did our best to explain to him why we were there and what we were doing. We will get a detailed report in 2-3 weeks but this is a brief summary:
Assets:
1. Receptive language: understands what he hears and reads
2. Expressive language: communicates his ideas
3. Memory: remembering, storing, retrieving what he has learned
4. Higher order cognition: being a good thinker
5. Sequential ordering: recognizing and putting things in proper order
6. Gross Motor Functions: large motor coordination
Areas to Work on and Around
1. Attention Controls:
A. Processing controls--having trouble processing input deeply, staying focused,
getting distracted, and taking 'mind trips'--especially with visual input
B. Mental effort--running out of fuel to process
2. Graphomotor function: handwriting
One very interesting thought was that he needs to see and ENT and possibly have his adenoids removed. Although he gets enough sleep, it is not necessarily restful sleep and therefore when new info is presented, he responses by being very tired and listless.
At any rate, there is much more to come but we think he will repeat first grade and go to the local public school. Our prayers now are that he will not have to wait 3 months to get an IEP (individualized educational plan). Once he has the IEP he can begin to get special services. I have expressed three main concerns with the assistant principal: Ryan needs a nurturing teacher who is OK with hugging him some, he cannot do a lot of homework--he struggles so with writing, and a 6 hour school day is huge for him. We also want to protect his self image and help him be a confident learner.
We rest in the fact that we know he is 'fearfully and wonderfully made', and we are so grateful that God entrusted him to our care. He brings such joy to our home and we know that with God's grace he will have a wonderful year next year.
Thank you again for your prayers and concerns. I will try to let you know as we learn more and discover practical strategies to best help him.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Tomorrow is a big day for us. Edgar, Ryan and I are driving to Chapel Hill,NC where Ryan has an appointment at the Center for Student Success. He will be seen by a group of clinicians who will observe, interact, and hopefully give us some answers to the many questions we have regarding Ryan's learning processes. He is a very bright little boy who loves life, but not school. This Student Success Center specializes in evaluating children because they recognize that children come with 'all kinds of minds'.
We are not looking forward to the 7 hour drive to and from, but are hopeful for some insights. We appreciate your prayers for our travel safety as well as for the assesment itself. Rachel has chosen to stay home with Uncle Phillip, Aunt Anita and the girls as most of her Greensboro friends are still in school. I think Ryan will radiate the love of Jesus to the clinicians as well as charm them with his smile, but then I am prejudiced. Will keep you 'posted'.
"Two are better than one because they have a good return for thier work." Ecc.4:9
We are not looking forward to the 7 hour drive to and from, but are hopeful for some insights. We appreciate your prayers for our travel safety as well as for the assesment itself. Rachel has chosen to stay home with Uncle Phillip, Aunt Anita and the girls as most of her Greensboro friends are still in school. I think Ryan will radiate the love of Jesus to the clinicians as well as charm them with his smile, but then I am prejudiced. Will keep you 'posted'.
"Two are better than one because they have a good return for thier work." Ecc.4:9
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