Well, my mom, Anne (Julia's case worker with Developmental Pathways), Shawn, and I went to visit The Rise School in Denver today to see if we felt it was most appropriate for Julia....and wow...we really liked it. It was such a small, cozy, calm place. The director, Mark Graham, was very excited about the school and friendly. The classes are small - Julia's class would have 12 kids in it - 6 that are typical, and 6 with disabilities. Three of the disabled kids have Down's syndrome, and two have no diagnosis, but one of the two reminded me a lot of Julia. A beautiful little girl who was nonverbal. The ratio of kids to teachers is about 3:1. The teachers all have Master's degrees in special education, and the teachers aides all have bachelors degrees in teaching. They have Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, and Music Therapists there daily, and the kids get an average of 3-4 HOURS of therapy a DAY vs right now julia gets about 3-4 hours a WEEK of therapy. So..................I think we are going to do it - to sign her up. The financial consequences of this are going to be huge, but if it is what is best for her, I don't care. The logistics of getting her there are going to be complicated, but I will make it work, with the help of friends and family. So, getting ready to sit down and figure it all out....Please pray for us making this happen. We think it would be a WONDERFUL thing for Julia.
Susan
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Praying for wisdom and peace about this decision! Let me know if I can help, does the school allow people to donate money towards a scholarship to help pay for the school?
ReplyDeleteBarbara, I am not sure...if you want to call and talk to Mark Graham, his number is 303.756.7473. Thanks for always thinking of us. I truly do think this is the best thing for her - at least to try - if I didn't try I wouldn't know, and I have heard so many good things about it.
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