Even on the playground the girl has to work.

Quinn attends a lovely public school in our county. It’s a special education preschool through kindergarten. Most of the classes are inclusive – meaning about 1/2 the kids attend because of delays in development and 1/2 are from the neighborhood via lottery.

She is able to receive most of her therapy services at school and the school is built for kids who are differently abled (how PC of me). The entire program is based around them having an enriching, full day geared toward helping kids with delays. In this picture she’s on a playground that is designed for kids with special needs. You see the ramp behind her? It’s wheelchair and walker friendly. And the wobbly hanging poles she’s climbing on?* Yes, they can be seen on regular playgrounds but they were chosen for this school in particular to help build weak muscles on little bodies. And kids with Sensory Integration Dysfunction (Gage has a form of it) will benefit from fundraisers this year that are paying for a new Sensory Garden.

The faculty and staff are particularly special people. I’m not just saying that because you’d expect people who deal with special needs kids ALL DAY LONG to be special. But they really are different. You can almost tell the instant you walk into the place that they absolutely love your child and want him or her to reach their full potential. You get the feeling that everyone who works there knows your child and loves your child.

Hard not to love a school that helps the whole child.

*I’d like to point out that this is pre-broken collarbone and pre-teeth knocking out incidents. The more muscle tone she builds, the faster she runs, the more risk for injury. Poor thing. Her first soccer experience this summer should be a riot.