“Who The Heck Is Brian?”

~ NickyB.

Mj’s IEP meeting has come and gone.  It was a whopping 2 hours of talking, agreeing on goals, listening to his speech teacher and special Ed teacher, and signing forms.  One “take away” from the meeting was that they are going to test MJ so we can get updated psychological data on file.  The information we have now is grossly outdated.  The biggest “take away” was the fact that we found out that MJ has a best friend in class!  We’ll call this said friend, “Brian.”  We have never once heard MJ mention his name! All I could think was, “Who the heck is Brian?” It was so interesting to hear his teacher go on and on about how much they get along in class and how talkative they are together!  I interrupted the meeting and spoke candidly about how I was feeling. I insisted that they communicate more with me.  I asked them to give us information other than academics.   Due to MJ’s speech limitations it is very difficult to find out what is really going on socially in class. I insisted that the teacher email information on the different social interactions that happen in class.  She understood and agreed to do so.  Later, we asked MJ about Brian and his face lit up.  “Brian is my friend,” he said. I am really looking forward to hearing more about MJ’s school social life.  

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25 thoughts on ““Who The Heck Is Brian?””

  2. Happy this IEP is over for you…it’s always stressing, isn’t it? I had to laugh about *Brian*…you do know, NT boys don’t always talk about their friends unless there are playdates and video games involved, don’t you? But how can you arrange a playdate if you don’t know about them? The social aspect is just as important for kids with autism….you are dead right to insist his teacher keeps you aware of his friends and other social interactions. Great news, really!

    Kiddo had *Susie* and *Becky*….girls who rode the school bus with him and he just wasn’t that “into* them. They wouldn’t leave him alone because he was cute! But I learned about them (at 2 different HS IEP meetings) and was amazed he had girlfriends, or girls who had crushes on him. My Casanova! LOL!

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  5. Praise God for his progress. Stephen also gets great reports from his training center. The school/program is very cooperative. I can take the subway there and have a great relationship with all his teachers and the Directors there.

    Wish I could say the same for the Group Home. His residence just thinks of me as a walking pen. I’m only here to sign droves of paperwork with little or no explanation of what’s going on. Actually the Director, Managers and the doctors at his Residence put the final kibosh on my attempts at FMLA not my job. My job was willing to cooperate however the doctors at Stephen’s residence refused to fill out the Family Leave forms for what they claim were legal reasons. So whether now or when the Paid Family Leave becomes Law in Jan. 2018 I will never get it. Sometimes I fee like I’m at war with the very people who are supposed to be helping us. Of course they know I can’t drive and have a hard time getting time off from work so they use that against me. Oh well. The battle continues. That’s one major reason I’m retiring in 2018 so I can have better control of the situation.

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  7. This news is awesome!! Yeah for Brian and MJ!! Everybody needs a Bestie! Lol! For Isaiah his is Vinny, a sweet adorable little Italian boy who is more academically delayed but they are clearly BFFs!!! I agree with you about demanding more info about MJs interactions! Social should be a standard category in any IEP! Lord knows we have been through enough of these lengthy meetings! Geesshhh! MJ is going to have more best friends as life goes on. Love these reports about his progress!😍

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  9. That is so wonderful! So glad that you found out about Brian so you can actually have a “conversation” (of sorts) about him. Communication with the school was always difficult for me with DC. These are the things they never felt important enough to mention (and who wouldn’t want to know their child made a friend?). So glad they are cooperating with you!

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  12. What a wonderful thing to hear, that your son has a friend! This is often the highlight of our IEP meetings, too…hearing about what goes on at school that my son would never think to tell me. One time, a classmate of his (who I believe is also on the spectrum) actually called my son on the phone just to chat. It was the most awkward phone conversation EVER, but it was still a victory! 🙂

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