Where everybody knows your name

Sept. 4, 2011

“Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows your name...”

I realize I really date myself using the theme from Cheers, but I can’t think of a better way to encapsulate the feelings Nathan seemed to show this week heading back to school. Everything down to him walking through the doors, where if we would have named our son after his grandpa, instead of just using the initials, the cheer of “Norm” would echo around the school. As it stands, everywhere he goes, Nathan is known and his smile brightens everyone’s day, better than a cold beer on Happy hour.

We’re so glad and fortunate to have Miss Beth for one more year. Her dedication to Nathan’s success, is unrivaled by anyone we’ve known. She always finds a way to incorporate Nathan into all of the class activities, and communicates with us, if we can use his device in her lessons as well. She’s the main reason (and the OT, and PT) we chose to go back to Nisonger one last time.

Of course, not everything is the same. Nathan has a whole new set of classmates. Two of which were at Nisonger last year, in a different class, but several new friends all together. Instead of having 9-10 classmates, like he had this year, he shares the room with 5 others, allowing even more special time with teachers and staff.

The student becomes the teacher

One special twist for this year, is that Nathan isn’t the only one in a walker. The walker the school got as a backup, is now being used by a classmate, and already Nathan is taking a leading role to help the other little boy use it. On two of the three days of school this week, it was obvious that Nathan would come up to him, look over his shoulder, as if to say, “come chase me.”

Nathan hasn’t mastered the use of his walker yet, but having a true peer may give him the extra motivation to push him forward as well. We noticed that Nathan wouldn’t use his communication device in school, and we’re trying to incorporate that with the others in the class as well. Hopefully, Nathan will take some pride showing others how to use his device, instead of being the odd-kid, he can be the techy-kid using his computer in school.

For all of the changes we may have feared last year, it seems as though this year seems to be starting off as the year of promise, and we look forward to what each new day may bring towards Nathan’s success.

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