Today was Dante's first official day of school, and they said he did GREAT! His "place" is right under Matthew's desk (it's a table-like desk, so there's lots of room). The other kids in Matthew's class are really excited about "Mr. Dante" coming to school. We had a meeting with the kids last week to introduce them to Dante and talk about having him in class. They have free time with him after lunch in the room, but other than that they know that he is working. There are only 6 kids in Matthew's class, and 4 in their neighboring class, so it's a tight-knit group. The challenge right now seems to be getting Dante to be really comfortable with the other kids. We are working on that (using treats), and I'm sure it's just a matter of time... they just want him to come to them so badly!
Dante spends the morning at Matthew's desk, and when Matthew goes to other rooms for floortime, OT, and so forth, they will decide day to day whether Dante goes along or stays in his kennel. Today, Matthew didn't want Dante to go to floortime with him, and I couldn't figure out why. He said that Dante would be distracting, but we finally reached a compromise: if Dante started to cause a ruckus (that's what Matthew was worried about), they would take him out and put him in his kennel. So when I left the room, Matthew, Dante and the floortime teacher were zipped up in a big tent looking at a book. :) I was told all was well! Everyone loves Dante and can't get over how smart he is!
I asked Matthew at the end of the day how he felt about having Dante in school with him, and he said "It was SUPER-DUPER-GREAT!!!"
Welcome!!
- The Plunks
- Hi! We are the Plunks: Jennifer, Jeff, Matthew and Maddie! Welcome to our blog. I started this blog to chronicle our service dog adventure, but it has evolved into a place for me to jot down my thoughts... about autism, parenting, family, working, but mostly about celebrating life and the God who gifted us with it. Enjoy the ride!
