Krassimir's Graduation

 Guess who got to have a small private graduation ceremony this afternoon?

We decided that he wasn't really going to be into the whole big deal at the civic center downtown with 300 other kids, so his teacher was able to coordinate a time that almost all of us could come and Dr. J, the principal, was able to come and do a mini commencement ceremony just for Krassi. I wish I'd thought to take a video, but it's probably good I didn't because I was crying through the whole thing. :) It was appropriately short for a commencement speech, and yet still beautifully done, and being a class of one, it was tailored specifically for Krassimir.

Notice the triangle (his favorite shape - it's something he keeps in his classroom that they made out of cardboard boxes) and the bracelet (given by the principal, knowing that they're also a favorite of Krassi's) are both on the floor. The diploma followed soon after. :) Krassi does NOT like wearing his graduation gown! With that, here's a nice photo that's actually kind of funny when you look closer...

This was taken just before the ceremony as we (me, Matt, and the kids) were all walking in. There are three or four people in front of his jumping around trying to get him to smile, and you'll notice someone sitting behind him with a death grip on his arms so he doesn't rip off the hat and gown!! :)

We got a decent family photo, too. Bobbi was at work (she's doing 20 hours a week now at her Food Product Demonstrator job, and has customers who come in and complain if she's not there!) but all the rest of us were able to be there - even Owen, who's working a full 40 hours a week as production manager for a roofing company, but has some flexibility in his schedule, so did his running near our house (we live next to the school) at the right time to coordinate with Krassi's ceremony, and just clocked out long enough to join us. Owen's got a different solution for the hat - one that Krassi's much happier about! :)

Krassimir's journey through school was a very custom journey, not just because he had an IEP (individual education program), but because when he first came home as a nine-year-old, he'd NEVER been to school, and when they wanted to start him in 4th grade, we pushed to have him join the kindergarten class instead - Reuben was in the special ed kindergarten class, and it was very important to us that Krassimir still be with someone from his family even when he was at school, and the people who worked with us on his intake respected that. Krassi spent kindergarten and 1st grade in Reuben's class, then moved up to 4th grade all at the elementary school. He then did 7th and 8th at the middle school, followed by 4 years with his incredible teacher, Ms G, at the high school.

This fall he will be part of a special program for severely handicapped young adults at a local community college. He can attend there for two years, and during that time they'll be working with him on functional skills (like developing self-feeding habits - he's working on hand over hand bringing his spoon to his mouth with his private therapist, and occasionally at home - they'll work on it every day and take however long he needs at each meal to give him the chance to work on that skill!) We'll also be looking into what options he has for occupying his days in a meaningful way after these next two years are up. As happy as he is to tool around at home, he also really enjoys getting out and seeing different people and doing different things. 

We're so proud of our second oldest and all of the things he learned and accomplished through his years at school!