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Skye ran up to May as the woman waited at the gate for her like she did every day once school had finished. She had said goodbye to her teacher, put her school AAC device safely away in her locker and got her backpack before going outside. The new backpack still lay slightly differently on her shoulders, it had been tough when her old one broke but she guessed that she had used it almost daily for around two and half years so eventually everything needed replacing. It didn’t make it any less hard and she was till in the slight traditional period but May had rung round every store she could trying to find an exact replica for her. Sadly that didn’t work out but Skye felt she was ready to take the plunge and with both her mom and sisters help she picked out an awesome new one. It was turquoise, her favourite colour, with rainbow sequins on the front pocket which when you brushed them with your hand they changed into a different colour and revealed a pattern. Skye had squealed happily when she first tried this out and knew she had to get that, she also had a matching pencil case to go with it and couldn’t help but smile when she saw May “sneakily” buy an extra set for later on.
Skye finally approached May, gently rubbing her face affectionately on her moms shoulder as her greeting. The woman smiled gently at this and placed a kiss on her forehead, taking her hand as they walked back to the car which was only a few paces away.
“How was school today?” May asked and Skye frowned, pulling away from her mom with a barely audible whine which the woman knew meant it hadn’t been a good day. She stored that information away for later, gently patting Skye’s shoulder in sympathy before opening the car door for her. Jemma was already sat on the other side, rocking slightly in her seat. She had her ear defenders on and was wearing a chew necklace, the pendant of which was currently in her mouth. May realised that she seemed content more than stressed, her other girls day had gone better by all accounts so she was just stimming to wind down. Skye climbed into her seat and May helped her belt up, handing her the fully charged tablet she used as an AAC device whilst they were at home, since the girl had a separate unit for school.
Melinda had her qualms and a lot of sleepless night when it came to deciding on schools for the girls, she had to consider their needs and what they could cope with and what would be best to allow them to grow and reach their full potentials. Given her high IQ and general intellect, Jemma went to a mainstream school where she was on track to graduate early, already several years ahead of other similar aged pupils. However, May had to fight to make sure Jemma still received the support and help she needed. No matter her IQ, if the girl didn’t get some support and help things could develop badly. She had pulled her out of the first school due to horrendous bullying and homeschooled her for six months but Jemma was best in a classroom environment and May knew she needed teachers who actually knew their stuff when it came to what Jemma was studying unlike her. So she researched a lot and thankfully got recommend somewhere by another mom with a child with similar support needs to Jemma. That school seemed to work a lot better, Jemma settled in more and had a fantastic support network in place including a tutor that she got on well with and she was so proud of seeing her girl flourish in her new environment.
Skye attend a school specifically for autistic kids and/or those with learning disabilities. It had been a tough choice but May knew deep down that Skye, given she had also come from a traumatic start to life before she was adopted, needed the extra support and slightly more adaptive environment that could fit her different needs to that of her sisters. Skye was non verbal, at first they weren’t sure if this may have been caused by or a reaction to the trauma but it was part of her autism. At first she was lashing out regularly, mostly in speech therapy which May had put her in with the best intentions but later found was one of the causes to her anger. Her school helped by letting her use an AAC device whilst she was there, and she seemed to take to it instantly. She still preferred to use non verbal cues at certain times, May had learnt which different noises and gestures meant different things but for general things or questions the technology proved invaluable and Skye seemed to gain confidence with being able to communicate her needs more effectively, plus the fact the girl seemed naturally gifted with tech and had managed to hack the app into being able to do and say all sorts. Naturally, she still got told off when she used it to say rude words or moan about something but May was secretly glad that her daughters more playful side was coming out more with being able to express herself.