It started as a trial last spring - Jacob started spending a 1/2 day a week at another school, a school that didn't have other kids in wheelchairs or feeding tubes. Elkhorn is a regular public school filled with kids who can run, speak and follow the standard Ontario curriculum. The idea was to continue to expose Jacob to 'regular' kids because he loves having kids speak to him and interact with him. And I knew he could follow along with their class work. I knew this because if he couldn't, we would know - he wouldn't sit still, he would fidget in his chair and he would scream in protest. And his teacher was known to him - she had been his teacher the previous year at Sunnyview. She 'gets' him and knows exactly how to teach my son. Cheryl knew it would work, I hoped it would.
From the day Jake was wheeled into Elkhorn he was accepted beyond anyone's expectations. The kids gravitated to him, they were curious and friendly and the teachers were won over by Jacob's huge, toothy smile. The trial was deemed an unequivocal success and Jacob is now a weekly presence at Elkhorn. He has even started learning French alongside his new friends!
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