Back to the CASANA conference discussion

The session was called "Planning for Preschool and School Age Transitions for Children with CAS." Sounds bland enough, no? Yet a huge number of participants were crying throughout the presentation, and the presenter also struggled to keep her emotions in check. Here’s the slide that probably signaled the start of the waterworks:

Common Fears of Parents

• Loss of close relationship with EI (Early Intervention, which is birth to age 3)
• Inability to “see” what is happening with child
• Fears that no one will understand child; child won’t be able to say what happened; will be left out, picked on
• Concerns whether staff will really care
• Self-doubt – “I have no idea what is appropriate!”

Can I tell you how VALIDATING that is? That other parents are also having minor nervous breakdowns going from home-based, family-centered EI to the school system? And then from the preschool setting to actual kindergarten? I hear the next most-awful step is aging out of the system entirely at 21. I will continue to hope that Nea’s problems are resolved by then. It came up in her IEP meeting, though. Because IEP meetings aren’t gut wrenching enough. Let’s definitely bring up another bombshell point.