Cade's New School- The Morgan Center

Cade was born 4 weeks before I went back to school. He came home from the NICU just 2 days before I started nursing school. I have always struggled to find care for him. We started off with family and friends and Robyn, Sonya, Amy, Sarah, and Haley gave him lots of love and attention in our home because he wasn't able to go to daycare. I cannot thank them enough because I always felt comfortable leaving him in their care. Of course his grandparents were also a huge help. After he got his trach out, we began trying various in home and public daycares. He never quite fit into that age specific setting. Just last summer 4 schools refused to accept Cade. I was always grateful when someone would even agree to keep him.
And now for the first time, I feel that we have found the perfect mix of love/attention and understanding along with the knowledge and willingness to help Cade succeed. A brand new inclusion (the first that I know of) daycare opened this summer in New Braunfels. When I took the tour, I almost cried because it was so perfect for Cade. Typically developing children as well as children with special needs are accepted here. The teachers are all certified, they all know sign language. They are not at all frightened by his feeding tube and do all the care required with that. They have better teacher/child ratios so Cade gets lots of special attention and hand over hand assistance.

the facility if beautiful!

The motor lab contains therapy equiptment and it is Cade's favorite room. He will now get his speech and occupational therapies here at school. This will be such a blessing for all of us. His therapists will work with him more often and for not as long. That will be a much better fit with his attention span.

They are working very hard on getting Cade potty trained. Here he is showing you his potty button. He doesn't tell us if he needs to go but if we keep him on a schedule, he stays dry all day. He is learning to use his button appropriately. They also use communication boards and picture symbols with him to help him to communicate.

As an added bonus, I graduated high school with one of his teachers so I know that she is fabulous.

Outside the school has playground equipment that is more special needs friendly. They are working in conjunction with the school to help Cade meet his goals. Once school starts, he will ride the bus over and spend his lunch and afternoons here. I get a note home every night about how much they love and enjoy Cade. I cannot express how overjoyed I am that Cade has this opportunity. I feel like this place will help him make great strides with his development. I can go on and on about what a perfect fit it is for us but I think you get the idea.

Also, I have made the decision to send Callie here as well. She will start next week. I have been impressed with their planning and curriculum. I feel this is a great opportunity for Callie as she already realizes that her brother is special and requires extra help and patience. Not only will she be learning her letters and numbers, she will learn some life lessons too. It is so important for her to understand how to deal with children with various special needs and how to help them. Also she will learn sign language and that may be the only way she will be able to communicate with her brother. She won't be in Cade's class but she will still see him frequently during the day. Stay tuned for more updates... I am sure I will have more raving to do!