so many meetings! Those of you who have the privilege of interacting with us during the week know that we are in and out of meetings all the time. So i thought i would just recap what all the meetings are for. We have several people on the team right now, and each one plays a very specific role in helping our family move forward.
We have a case manager who I meet with on a weekly basis. Her role is to help brainstorm what our needs are, how they can be met and what goals we have already met.
We have an In Home Therapist who we also meet with at least on a weekly basis. Her role varies according to what we need most. Sometimes she meets with just me and we talk about my daily stresses, how I can better my relationship with Julia, how to interact with the public, how to handle things that come our way, that is her life coach role. She is also in charge of helping all 5 of us communicate as a family. Even without a complicated dynamic most families have a hard time communicating within themselves. Our IHT is in many ways like a translator for all of us to the rest of the family. She also is a fountain of knowledge for research and techniques. In many ways like "tricks of the trade" for dealing with a child with special needs.
We have a family planner who I meet with weekly. Her role is to make us look like a functioning family (good luck to her!). She helps with looking at a particular struggle we may be having and finding solutions. She has been out on errands with us, interacted with us, brainstormed solutions, rehashed old ideas, new ideas, i even get to do crafts with her!!
We have a trauma therapist who Julia meets with weekly. Her job is to help Julia work through her past. Sometimes I attend her meetings, sometimes just Julia does. We have all been to a meeting. Sometimes Ella and Caleb are in the meetings. It really depends on the week and what is needed. Julia has been giving some tools to help control her anger from this therapist, and we have gotten some amazing incite into the mind of a traumatized child.
We have added a new member to the team this week, for weekly visits. Her role is to interact with the kids. She is going to be doing this one on one, or with two, or with all three of them. It all depends on the need that week. She will be helping out with interaction, rules, tools etc. She will be doing it for the children as the IHT helps me to help the kids.
That is our professional team in a nut shell. As you can see that leaves me with a minimum of 5 meetings a week. They are a very knowledgeable group who has made it possible for our family to make steps forward, and when we regress the strength and guidance to push harder to get to our goals. To be honest I think every family with children should be given a team of experts to help them through life. We have learned so much, and are always tweaking what we do so that we are doing what is best for our family.
