Gone for now

Frankie left with Ben a little after 5:00 today.

We had some discussion about his schooling. It may be complicated. Frankie has been in group homes and treatment centers all of which have had on-site education. I did not quite realize that until this afternoon (not that it would have changed my decision). What that means is that the sites have been providing him with individualized instruction and only giving him the testing that they required. That testing may not be enough to qualify him for any sort of support services here.

We all think that he needs something. I'm nervous about taking a kid who has been working in a room with half a dozen students, one subject at a time, at his own pace, with pretty much a guarantee that he won't fail (he doesn't take the test until the teacher is sure he is ready) and moving him to a high school of more than 1000 students without any any sort of individualized support.

But the social workers are on it. I am not going to worry about that right now.

What I was going to tell you when I came to the computer is this. I am working on Frankie's quilt. When Ben got here I mentioned it, gesturing to the quilt squares all over the table. He smiled and said, "Remember that I told you that Frankie has five suitcases? One of them is filled with blankets that are important to him. You are definitely speaking his language of love." That made me feel pretty good.

Then I told Ben that I had given Frankie a pillow I had made out of two of the quilt blocks that had not come out quite right* and some photos of the house so that he could show people where he would be living. Ben smiled again, sighed and said, "Oh good. That's wonderful. He visited somewhere else and came back and told everyone that he was moving and then it didn't work out. That is going to be such a good thing for him."

___
*I do believe that was Bacchus's suggestion. Thanks!

Next: Reflections on Frankie