The Silcock Family Newsletter

November 2007

 

 

Hi!  I guess its time to catch-up with the Silcock family.  A lot has happened since early August 2007.   We finalized Max's adoption in August and Marc's adoption in October.  The social workers promise us that Daniel's adoption, Kyle C.'s adoption and Yanny's adoption will be finalized before the new year.  We are keeping our fingers crossed.  It looks like Michael's adoption might be finalized by April 2007!  That is very big news since we have been waiting to finalize Michael's adoption for several years.  If all of those adoption are completed then we will only have a few re-adoptions left for the kids who were adopted internationally, and James' adoption.  It feels great to finalize and we will certainly be happy when everybody is adopted!

 

Also in August we filed an episode of "Hometown Heroes" for Direct TV.  The filming included a day in the life of the Silcock family and Max's adoption.  I don't know when the episode will be shown but I will post specific details to the web site as soon as I have more information.

 

In the meantime we are considering placement of an set of identical 11-year-old twins from Los Angeles county.  The boys are severely delayed and have spent their entire life living in institutions. We have started visits with both of the boys, who are currently not living in the same facility.  We have even started extended weekend visits with one of the boys.  These boys have a lot of potential and will benefit from having lots of brothers and a mom and dad to keep them stimulated and growing!   Already we have seen a positive change in the area of social skills and language with the twin who has been to our home.  If and when these boys join our family, we will have two sets of twins--all the same age!   Watch the web site for more details on the twins as their placement date nears.

 

The boys are doing well in school.  Everyone got off to a good start this school year. Most of the boys are fully-included with specific supports written into their individual education plans. Although the boys seem to enjoy school, we are not very pleased with some of the elementary school programs.  We are advocating for better trained teachers and better training for instructional aides, especially for staff working with children with severe and profound disabilities.  On the other hand, we are extremely pleased with the efforts of our local high school teaching staff who definitely know how to individualize each student's education plan. Something the elementary school staff seem to be lacking!  In any case, this is nothing new! We just have to continue being child advocates so our boys can get the most out of their time in public education. Onward and upward!

 

More after the holidays!

 

Ann