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The Cornish Family
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I am very happy to have Meredith Cornish who blogs at Cornish Adoption Journey to share a l little about her family.
AZ : How old are your kids? What are there disabilities? and how did they join your family?
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| Aleksa (8) |
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| James (4) |
Micah will be 5 in September and was also adopted from Ukraine 3 years ago at 18 months old. He has Down syndrome too.
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| Lynae(22 months) |
And last is Lynae, our typical biological daughter that will be 2 in September, her birthday is 09.09.09.
AZ:Wow that is cool because I turn 20 September 6th.
Meredith:Oh fun 
AZ: Why did you want to adopt?
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| Briana (5). |
Meredith: I
have two siblings that my parents adopted from foster care when I was a
teen and the second when I was off and married, but adoption has always
been a part of my life. Both of my grandmothers spent time in
children's homes as well, which is what prompted my parents' decision to
adopt.My husband and I were married when my parents adopted the second time,
and we've always discussed adoption, so it was a natural course of
action for us both the first time, and very much "God prompted" the
second two times.When we had Brianna, we got God's "yes" that we could "handle" special
needs... since we weren't really sure that we would be able to do it
until then.
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| Wesley (6) |
AZ:Cool. What resources have you found most useful to helping you learn about Cerebral Palsy.?
Meredith:I used to babysit for a family whose 2 yr old had CP. She is now 12, and we have continued to be friends (her
parents and I). We also find Yahoo groups to be VERY useful, and
parents have been the best source of information I've found. The second
source would be our blog, when we are able to post our specific issues
and find out pretty quick answers, which is priceless
AZ: Are there any support groups are things similar to the Buddy walk in your area for kids with CP
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| Emma (8) |
Meredith:No support groups that I know of, but I have met another mom of a 12 yr
old w/ CP as well that's local and we'e gotten together once now.
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| Kristopher (7) |
AZ: How aware is Kristaphor about his siblings special needs?
Meredith:Kristopher knows that the kids have disabilities (except Lynae). To
him, it's no big deal. Brianna was born when he was not quite 2 years
old, and she's his "always" Though the other kids are "more disabled" than Brianna, it isn't a big deal around here
Though the other kids are "more disabled" than Brianna, it isn't a big deal around here
AZ:I am a big advocate for inculsion I am on I am norm that fosters
inculsion so my next question is what does inculsion look like
for each one of your kids.
Meredith:
Let's start with the oldest.. Aleksa is only attending school 2-3
days /week this first semester of school, so we have not pushed for
inclusion hours for her. Not yet anyway. I'm hoping to add in several
morning hours of inclusion for Aleksa nxt semester.Emma is not in any inclusion classes. She doesn't care about other
kids, and she is at a very basic learning part now, so she's in a self
contained classroom full time.Wesley
same as Aleksa. Both of them don't understand much English yet, so the
contained classroom isn't bad. The three of them will all be in the
same class.Brianna
is next, and she is very social and close to grade-level. We really
pushed for full inclusion for her, but we weren't able to have the
school agree that it would be appropriate. They felt that she was
small, shy, and would be run over in a regular classroom. At the end of
a 4 1/2 hour IEP, we eventually agreed to have her in the regular
kindergarten class for most of the day, with pull out to the class my
older kids are in for Math and Reading time each day. James and Micah are both in PreK
still. They are in an 90/10 Prek class, which has about 10 kids in it
with 1 or 2 "typical" kids along with the rest that have IEPs.Both
of them are "aimed for" the self contained classroom because of their
behaviors (which really is what keeps Aleksa there as well), but we'll
see how this year goes. Micah is really making gains in the behavior
area, so we'll see.
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| Mich (4) |
AZ: Thank you Meredith For the interview. this is the first interview on my blog.
Meredith: you're very welcome Thanks for choosing me, I'm honored!
Thanks for choosing me, I'm honored!
