A Conversation with CDS

The public school has been wondering when CDS is going to schedule Jupiter's IEP for kindergarten. I called the caseworker the Thursday before Memorial Day to pose this question to her. I had to leave a message, because none of the staff at CDS actually takes phone calls. They take voicemails and sometimes they call you back.

I received a call back the Wednesday after Memorial Day. Caseworker M told me that she wasn't sure who was writing Jupiter's IEP. (At our meeting, she told me she was in the process of writing Jupiter's IEP.) She wasn't sure if it should be her because Jupiter is going to public school in the fall and won't be under the CDS umbrella anymore. So she was hesitant to write it and she was trying to determine who would.

Then M told me that I never returned the paperwork that she sent me to sign, the consent for placement for initial services. I informed her that I sent her a fax. On April 30th. Two days after I recieved the paperwork in the mail. And I told her that I know that her office recieved the fax because my fax machine prints out a receipt every time I fax something with the fax number it was sent too, the time it went through, and that the transmission was successful. I have the fax reciept too. M insisted she never got it. I told her it was too bad that I wasn't informed that she didn't have it, because I could have refaxed it.

Then M told me that Jupiter can recieve services in the fall. "So she's not getting any services in the preschool classroom?" I asked. No. There was a waiting list, she didn't have the paperwork (liar) etc etc etc.

Translation: Jupiter is aging out of the CDS umbrella the end of the month, and they're just going to ship her off to public school.

They did get the neuropsych eval scheduled. Caseworker M seemed concerned that I wasn't aware of those appointments and that I might miss them. (She's the one that can't keep track of a two page fax, so I don't know why she's so worried about me. ) (It's possible I'm still a little cranky about that.) I enjoyed filling out all those forms (I had a dream last night about filling out forms for Jupiter), especially the computer entry form for behavior from ages 5-21. Isn't that kind of a broad age range? I mean, in her own way Jupiter follows current events. She doesn't read the newspaper, but recognizes a photo of Obama. She doesn't really care about economic policy, but knows Obama has two daughters (she strung them all bead bracelets and wants to mail them to the White House) and got a new dog. So I struggle with some of these questions. I will undoubtedly drive the pediatric nueropsychologist nuts (LOL) on Friday when I go in for the pre test consult.

So anyway, I got off the phone and was cranky for awhile. That afternoon, I had to make a round of paperwork deliveries (I only thought I was done driving paperwork around the state after Jupiter's adoption was finalized. Little did I know...) and my route to Portland took me within a half a mile of the CDS office, so I figured I'd stop by and drop off the hard copy of the fax I had resent to them two hours before.

I went up to the desk, and the fax I had sent was sitting there on top of the desk, apparently waiting for caseworker M to come out of her office and pick up. (yes, these are the same people who would not send me a fax at work because they were concerned about confidentiality.) I left the other copy anyway. I have yet another copy in case both of those get "lost."

Then I stopped at the adoption agency to drop off our yearly update letter for Russia and 8-10 4x6 photos of Lina appropriately clothed, preforming appropriate activities, with all family members. (or, in actuality, 8 photos, some of which may actually have been 3 1/2 by 5, all of which were taken between August and October 2008, and one of which happened to include both me and her. And they were lucky to get that one.) They haven't called me yet to request alternate photos.

Then I stopped at the neuropsych's office to drop off that mountain of forms. They weren't all going to fit in that little bitty envelope they sent me to mail them in. Especially when I include things like the two page Russian medical history and the eight pages I wrote for kindergarten screening. (The neuropsych forms didn't have enough room either).

My work bag is a lot lighter now. I'm sure it'll get filled up again soon enough.