Summer Update and Teaching a Special Needs Child with a Classical Christian Model

It just occurred to me that in the busyness of life, I have not posted since spring. We have had a hectic summer. It started with an unfortunate bout of strep throat for all the kids in the Crosby household, then the stomach bug and our string of illness culminated with an ER trip for Cullen. After some meds and some serious snuggle time recovery, we are all back to good health.

Ironically, in the midst of all the ickiness around here, Cullen learned to swim this summer. I was at home one night with the older kids recovering, and this made for some rare alone time for Cullen and his Aunt Kay who was visiting from TN. She and Cullen played in the pool for hours and she coaxed him to go under the water, fully submerged. There was a slow, trust building opportunity that Kay seized, and before long, he realized he was buoyant  and began to swim. That was in mid-June and he has been swimming ever since; no flotation devices what so ever. Just he and his natural sculling abilities! Praise God!

This summer, swimming was a bigger goal for us than language development because swimming will save his life, and we are a swimming family! We are forever grateful to Aunt Kay for the time she spent patiently teaching him to swim. Love you Kay!!

On another note, I have been saying for years now that I would never homeschool Cullen, however, never say never!!!! I was at a training seminar learning about how to teach utilizing the classical Christian model and we were focusing on the nature of a child….”A Contemplation in Nature.” While listening to the teacher speak on various philosophies throughout history, and their impact on modern education, it occurred to me, or rather God hit me up side of the head, and told me that I was treating Cullen very different than my older children. I sought some counsel from some others in my life, far wiser than I, and we concluded that Daniel and I know Cullen better than anyone. We understand his very nature and it is our job to look at Cullen the same as his siblings, that is, as souls to be nurtured rather than products to be measured. It broke my heart when I realized that I measure him all the time up against a standard set by I do not even know who. Anyway, we have pursued this revelation regarding Cullen’s education post-Meyer Center and have arrived at the fact that we feel led by God to homeschool Cullen utilizing the classical Christian model. It just makes sense. We will not go at it alone, however. We live in a day where resources are readily available. We have registered him for Classical Conversations www.classicalconversations.com (CC) with his older siblings this fall. He will attend tutoring one day a week with his peers and continue at the Meyer Center on the other days until he graduates next spring. Then he will continue with CC and Daniel and I will seek direction from a team of professionals to assist with his speech and occupational therapies. Oh what a peace we have. As a matter of fact, the night we voiced the idea and prayed as a family to God about this possibility, we saw a double rainbow, stretching from one side of HWY 123, all the way to the other side of the highway. Could it have been a confirmation that this was the right choice. Perhaps to some it was not, but to us, it was a sign that God has been with us, continues to be with us, and will forever remain with us on this journey with Cullen. His name is afterall Cullen “Asher”, which means a happy pilgrimage. Praise God for his faithfulness and for not allowing us to go on this pilgrimage alone!! And praise God for a supportive family who walks along side of us, without judgement, just support.

We pray you are having a wonderful summer and that you are drawing close to God. He pursues us regardless I think, but loves it when we respond to his pursuits….don’t we all!!!         

Love,

Tresh

Happy Spring!

Well we made it through a long winter and spring has finally arrived! We are enjoying being outside as much as possible. Cully played soccer again this spring through TOP Soccer, a league for children and adults w/ special needs ages 4-21. It has been a great place to let Cully learn the game and build confidence. He has also learned to shoot baskets now and seems to prefer using his soccer ball as a substitute for a basketball…..it actually works well for him…maybe its the size. Who knows, but he sure is having fun.
On another note, please be aware that the senate will be voting on the current budget passed by the South Carolina state house (which did not cut special needs funding). Please join us in prayer that senate will pass this budget as is. Also, please continue to ask those senators to listen to us and protect special needs funding!! They will listen and we are not a powerless voice! Happy Spring!
Love, Tresh and family

Are there angels among us?

This is a question I have often pondered? Today I heard a Christmas song that presented this very question and it made me stop and pray. I believe certainly there must be those we cannot see, but could it be that God will at times send an angel, visible to the human eye, to help in times of need. This my friend, I will answer with a true story of a life shaping moment that occurred to me and my precious Cully five years ago in a hotel of all places.

Cully was born in the fall of 2004. I was at a meeting with my husband in a hotel conference room and had brought Cully along because he was just a few weeks old and still depended on me for feeding. Cully began to fuss during the conference so I snuck out to the lobby to nurse him. While I sat there, feeding him ever so discreetly, I watched a hotel employee tend to the breakfast buffet, making sure it was clean and well stocked, however I noticed something very different about her. She was unusually joyful. As I sat there admiring her infectious joy from afar, I was interrupted by a page from my husband. He needed me to go to the front desk to retrieve a fax. I tidied up from my current task at hand and quickly scurried toward the desk clerk. I was holding Cully over my shoulder in a burping position because I had not had time to burp him after his rather large breakfast of warm milk. Propped up on my shoulder and facing outward, I heard a voice approach my son, and speak ever so gently to him. The voice sent chills down my backup  yet soothed me like nothing I had ever heard before. I could not yet see the face, and was perhaps a bit fearful to turn around, but the voice was that of an elderly woman and had a hint of the Caribbean islands. The voice was whispering to Cully, no more than five inches from my ear “You are gwana be okay. Yo Momma does not know dat yet, but you dance wit da angels while she is sleeping. You gwana be okay boy.”

Tears filled my eyes before I turned around and when I looked behind me I saw the lady I had been admiring cleaning the breakfast nook. She was dark and old. She had tooth outlined in gold  and a voice that somehow I knew I could trust. I wanted to hug her. I wanted her to stay with me, but it was a moment of awkward release for me. What she did not know was that from the moment of Cully’s birth, in the quiet moments of the night, while the rest of the house was sleeping, I stayed up worried that something was terribly wrong with my son. Would he die? Why was he different? What will he be like? Why is this happening? These were questions I was not even talking to my husband about yet, much less doctors. Cully was just a few weeks old, but intuitively I knew something was wrong and I was terrified.

I found out in that moment, at a hotel, from a buffet attendant that God was VERY much with me….crazy as it sounds, I believe He sent an angel on earth that day to tell me that “everyting was gwana be okay.” And He was right. Five years later, Cully is still genetically different and faces many challenges, yet God has been with us all along.

This Christmas season I want to remember the truest meaning of the season. God with us! EMMANUELLE!  I am praying that you have an “unusually joyful” Christmas this year. Praise Him!

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Tresh and family

Meyer Center Ladies Holiday Luncheon a big success!!! Thank-you Greenville!!

This is an annual fundraiser that contributes about $200,000 to the school’s million dollar operating budget. God so faithfully provides year after year for these precious babies, unique by design, created in His loving image! Thank-you so much Greenville for your commitment to my son and his friends. Humbling how much we depend on this community and inspiring how generously  you give! Love, Tresh Crosby and family

http://www.yourcarolina.tv/ycvideo/entry/holiday_lunch/

Buy Coffee today….help a little girl!!

Heard today that our friend EJ who is at Remuda Ranch for therapy, gets a 9 day visit with her family next week!!! We are praying for their time together and ask that you join us in that prayer!! EJ is a 9 year old girl with an eating disorder that has been away at therapeutic camp for 29 days so far without her family. They need to raise an additional $8000 to cover the cost of the therapy and a simple way to help is to buy coffee TODAY at Liquid Highway on East North from 7:30-9:30AM. They need to raise the last $8,000 by 11/19 . You can get the details on how you can help at  http://www.40thousandpeople.com !!!!!! PLEASE join EJ in this effort to help!! Love, Tresh

October 1, 2009

Well, today is our friend EJ’s first day at Remuda Ranch! She flew out yesterday in anticipation of  full recovery from her eating and compulsive disorders and we want to wish her the best there is to offer and ask anyone who reads this to pray for EJ and for 100% recovery as well as a deeper relationship with God as she examines why He has allowed this “test” in her little tiny life! We LOVE you EJ and are excited about what God will show you in this journey!

On a lighter note, we are back in school, full speed ahead, in the Crosby home!!! Memories of  our sweet summer are  becoming more faint as we move toward winters and the new year ahead! We are doing virtual charter school this year with two of the kids and I love spending the time with them. Cully is learning more than ever at The Meyer Center and has even been completing some worksheets with only verbal cues!! AMAZING how far he has come with comrehension this year. Now, if only the speech will follow…..

We will keep you updated on that. Well gotta run, Cully is ready for some soccer as he has put on his cleats and soccer socks , a t-shirt and his tighty whities!! What a sight!

Love and blessings,

Tresh

Finally found the perfect teachers gift

Well, for some reason, giving a teacher a random gift just for the sake of giving it is just plain boring to me, so, having said that, it has taken me quite a while to find Cully’s teachers the “perfect gift.” Well, I finally found it! I have a soap dish, artfully crafted in the shape of a hand signing “i love you.” I bought it from Earth Maiden at the open air market in Charleston www.earthmaidenonline.com .
It is one of my favorite things, especially in combination with the hand crafted hemp soaps, made by the same artist. I keep the soap dish by my kitchen sink and feel happy evertime I use it. I have had it since early spring, but here it is July and I just figured out that these dishes and soaps are delightful gifts for Cully’s teachers who give so much to him to help him speak, sign, or communicate each day=) I love them all for that. I ordered the dishes and they have just arrived and I am very excited to share them with his teachers at the Meyer Center. Cully can’t yet sign “i love you” with his own hands, so now, these soap dishes can do it for him. Thanks Mary E.!

Cully is telling Stories by pointing

Well it has been a long time since I have posted. School is out for the older kids for summer, but Cully has summer school. Before you feel sorry for him, he LOVES it! He had a two week vacation and when Ms. Dorothy came to pick him up on the bus after vacation, he was all smiles. It made my heart glad to know how much he loves the Meyer Center.

Well, we are seeing something new in Cully lately. He does not speak with vocalization for us to make clear words, but prefers to point and make sounds with his pointing. Well, usually he just points at something he wants and makes an “eh” sound with intonnation, but lateley he has been pointing at the things in the sequence of a story. For example, when I returned home from a trip with my daughter this weekend, he was able to explain to me with a series of pointing, that his ear hurt and it was because the shower head in the bath tub sprayed water into his ear. He was not in the bathtub when he expressed this to me. He led me from the kitchen to the bathroom to tell me this, while holding his ear. He had been in the tub the night before. This was GREAT! I understood him. I have no idea if anyone else will, but for now, that does not matter. For me, this was progress because it indicates that he understands the concept of sentences and the process of telling a story. All of this indicates an expanding receptive vocabulary. HOORAY! Praise God always for the small things because what might go unnoticed by one, is a miletone for another. Love, Tresh

Welcome to Holland

This is the father of a special needs child reading a beautiful poem about how one might describe raising a child with special needs. It pretty much sums it up for me. Hope you enjoy. Love, Tresh

Bill to offer Scholarships for Children with Special Needs in S.C.

Hey everyone. Its been a while since I have called upon you, but I wanted to share some info. Our local state house rep. Rex Rice is trying to help out our children by introducing the following bill in South Carolina. Please familiarize yourself and if you agree, contact your local reps and senators and ask for the BILL THAT OFFERS SCHOLARSHIPS to SPECIAL NEEDS children. Again, you can find your reps/senators though the following link

http://www.scstatehouse.gov/cgi-bin/zipcodesearch.exe.

Thanks everyone and lets pray that if this is God’s way for our children then it will happen! Thanks for being involved and being a part of something bigger than ourselves!!! Love, Tresh

Here is the note we received from from Rep. Rice
___________________________________________________

I have had many positive responses to my bill about children with special needs receiving scholarships from the state to have the ability to attend a private school. I am grateful for all of the encouragement that I have heard from so many people about this bill. Several have asked for more information about the bill and I would like to take the opportunity to be able to explain my idea to you.

We first introduced this bill about three years ago and it died as a result of the Department of Education. We have been working on this project ever since to make it stronger and gain support so we will have a better chance this go-round. I plan to reintroduce the bill before the end of session this year so it will be ready for debate come next January.

Basically, the bill will allow children with special needs to have flexibility in where they receive their education. This would not only save the state money, but provide these children with a much better quality educational opportunity, which would benefit the child, their families and their future productivity. It cost our school districts significantly more money to educate these children at much lower standards. Private schools are able to offer these children higher quality education at a much lower cost. I don’t understand how anyone can’t see this as a win-win for our state and the children.

I have discovered a very similar program that has begun in Florida. They call their plan the “McKay Scholarship”. I think this is a great idea and I am currently looking at their methods to see what is working and what is not. Here is the link if you are interested in reading through their bill.

http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch1002/SEC39.HTM&Title=-%3E2004-%3ECh1002-%3ESection%2039#1002.39

I hope that being able to look at the Florida bill will allow you to understand what we are trying to accomplish. Keep your eyes out for my bill over the next couple of weeks (before session ends on May 21st). I will be sure to post the link to mine as soon as it is introduced.

I really encourage all of you to contact your representatives and senators to ask them to support this idea. Our children, especially those with special needs, should not be trapped in schools that aren’t serving their best interests.

In a meeting last year with special needs parents and the state Department of Education a discouraging statement was made about the monumental tasks of training our public school teachers to educated special needs children. This is a prime example of why we should allow children and parents options in their education. We should not tie their hands when we know we are not offering them what they deserve.

If you have any questions or concerns about the bill, feel free to call me or shoot me a message.

Thanks for all of your support,

Rex
864-616-5657