we got it!

I got a call at 1:30 this afternoon...let the machine pick it up. The person said she was calling from CIIS for our scheduled phone conference and would try back in 5 minutes. Wha??? I told her I was not informed of any scheduled conference. They said they sent a registered letter via USPS. Uhhh...I never signed anything, never got anything. I wasn't prepared...didn't have anyone to watch the boys so I could fully concentrate, didn't have a list of things prepared, Jeremy wasn't present, etc. They said they could reschedule, though they didn't sound very friendly about it...so I just went ahead with it. I figured it'd be a good thing that they hear Alex screaming and hitting himself in the background. We went through everything we'd gone through before so we all could make sure everything was written down correctly. It was. I added a few other things, but they were all stuff that happened after the initial intake meeting, so I didn't think they'd be considered (they only deal with the time period from the date of the inital meeting backwards 6 months). I did mention that we had to keep the air conditioning on around the clock, because Alex would get too hot at night all wrapped up and with his helmet on. They told me thanks, that they'd get back to me in a week and told me what my next step would be if their decision was still no (a conference call with an administrative judge). An hour later, they called back and said Alex had been accepted. The air conditioning apparently put him up to a score of 200 (which is the minimum needed to qualify). He'd been at 195 at the first try at CIIS when Alex was 5. He was at 197 this time when we appealed. I'm just so happy that's all finished! Yay! Now I need to find out what exactly we get. I know more respite and modifications to the home (we are wanting bars for his window and perhaps Lexan instead of glass, and getting the kitchen drawers/cupboards/fridge/oven babyproofed so we don't have to rely on the baby gates keeping him out...seeing as how he just scales over the counter now when he wants to).