I mentioned this before, that there is a school for Ignatzes, basically, about half an hour from here. Specifically, it is a school for "children with above-average intelligence who, due to particular learning or behavior disorders (e.g. dyslexia or concentration disorders) are not well-served by the state school system" (my translation). Sounds pretty much perfect, except for one thing: it's a boarding school, and he's only 11. I know, the English do it all the time, but it's not something that Americans tend to think of first, and I'm not altogether comfortable with him being gone so much.
Hmm, but it would be so good for him to be around others like him, and with teachers trained to deal with distractibility and disorganization, who accept it as normal instead of judging and criticizing. He could be normal. That would be so good for him, not to feel like a freak all the time.
So anyway, we've debated about this for over a year now, and finally decided we should at least call the school, make an appointment, check it out, not commit to anything, but find out about it. And oh no, it's full-up and there's a huge waiting list. I don't know how we didn't foresee that, given that it took nearly six months to get an appointment for him to be evaluated by a psychologist in Munich, eight months to see a pediatrician, and after that, a year before the child psychologist here in town could clear a space in her calendar for him. We already knew that there are too many kids with problems for the amount of help available. I don't know why we didn't apply that knowledge to this school as well.
So we'll send in his paperwork and get put on the list. There is a slight chance that they might let him in sooner if he totally bombs out of regular school.
Mhm. He can either limp along for seven years at this school that is a fine school yadda-yadda, but is not right for him, and not very good for him. Or he can crash and burn and then, maybe, have a chance at a better environment. Fucking hell, those are our choices?
Well, yes, I guess so. I guess there are limits to what is available and that is the situation we are handed, and all we can do is deal with it the best we can. Time to think about bootstraps.
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3 comments:
I'm glad that option wasn't on my table when my son was younger and had difficulties with ADHD. What a tough decision. Could he handle the separation?
I really think he could. He puts himself to bed, he can feed himself, he seems to need very little attention, to the point of occasionally rejecting it when it's offered. When I was getting my TEFL certification I had to be gone for a month, when he was 5, and he didn't show any signs of missing me. He can be very emotional, but not about that.
I'm more concerned with him feeling like we've sent him away as a punishment. That would be bad.
The problems will solve themselves eventually....just hang in there! And make sure you really turn up at SnB this Sunday...we'll give you moral supports!
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