Gracie goes to kindergarten.

My girl went off to school with the big kids today. More importantly, she went off to school with the "typical" kids.
That's the term they use today instead of "regular" or "normal".  But that doesn't matter. What does is that she is accepted at a regular school.
We spent all last week walking the school with Grace's Tss, Miss Heather. She seemed comfortable most of the time we were there. We got to meet her teachers, who seemed very interested in what we are doing with Grace.
          SO the big day came. Naturally her sleep pattern is off so she was up at 5 and was grumpy when I woke her at 7:30.  Naturally, there were behaviors but I was confident (or I tried to be) that they would subside when we got to school, like they did during the kindergarten trial sessions. And that is exactly what happened. I was able to walk her to her room with Miss Heather and Miss Rachelle, and I even got a hug before she went in to class. I did manage to get away without tears because I think I was so relieved to have gotten her there without stress that I didn't have time to process it.

with Miss Heather

I was hoping we would get to take pictures at the bus stop with the neighborhood kids, but that would have probably caused more harm than good anyway. I still have yet to learn that the Gracie way is not like anyone else. We don't do the same things. We do different things and that's ok.

with Miss Rachelle

Just the fact that she is in that school is a huge accomplishment. She has had so many great people supporting her and helping her along the way.
Her BSC, Miss Rachelle is rock solid and knows everything and Miss Heather has been with Grace since we started with ABA therapies. And all the other people who were and are apart of those therapies have been amazing. I also don't think we would be where we are without the support of her Aunt Angela, who also knows everything about special needs and education. We just hope that she will find the same kind of support at the school.
Of all the books I've read about kids with autism, the parents always say the most important thing is that the child has a good relationship with the people they work with at the school. Here's hoping we are on our way there.