Update on Noelle

Noelle saw the doctor last night, and he agreed that she most likely has an ulcer. So she will start taking Zantac every day, and be checked again in a month. She has gained 4 pounds back, and has a healthy appetite again. I finally feel like I can exhale… I can’t even begin to tell you how worried I have been about her. It’s such a horrible feeling when your child is that sick, and no one can find what’s wrong.

I have been doing battle with her school, trying to get them to make some simple accommodations to help Noelle with the avalanche of work that she missed all the days she was home sick. Some of you will remember the constant, daily battles I had to fight when she was in elementary school, before she was properly diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. It was absolute hell. Then she was correctly diagnosed, started working with a therapist, and entered Middle School. The Middle School teachers and Intervention Specialists went out of their way to help Noelle and she responded by getting great grades (most of the time), which raised her self confidence, which in turn spawned even better work. Success.

The first half of her freshman year in high school has been like a return to the dark days of elementary school. I honestly thought that once Noelle had her IEP (Individualized Education Plan) in place, we wouldn’t have any problems. But as she moves up in the years, adjustments need to be made to that IEP to meet the present situations. Missing 5 days of school in the past month is a situation that calls for additional intervention, particularly because it resulted in Noelle’s grades in every core subject plummeting to a D.

All of Noelle’s teachers have been accommodating (for the most part) except for her Science teacher. I have been in constant email communication with her Intervention Specialist over the past 4 days, trying to resolve the situation. I’m so tired of having to fight this battle. I shouldn’t have to still be fighting it after all these years. It would be different if Noelle was a slacker who just blew things off. But she works her butt off, literally for hours every night. She wants so badly to be a good student, to please her teachers and get good grades and be successful.

I have to keep being her cheerleader, encouraging her and heaping praise on her, with a big smile and lots of enthusiastic, positive energy. Then duke it out behind the scenes with the powers that be at the school until they get it through their thick skulls. It takes a lot out of a person, and I’m not sure how much more of it I have left in me.