From the moment our son came home from the hospital, we knew he was unique. Throughout his growing years, we struggled with developmental, dietary, and socialization issues. We were given no help or hope and just did the best we could to try and support him through these.
When our son was 8, we were told by the public school system that he was borderline "mentally retarded' and he would never be able to perform "normally". We were devastated. We were asked by our school to remove him due to his overwhelming anxiety and disturbing behaviors. At that time, he could not be away from us for any length of time, hurt himself, and had daily meltdowns over everything from socks to tooth brushing.
Eventually, we found our way through the maze of homeschooling, speech/language therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral therapies, dietary roulette,and a diagnosis of autism. Now we now have a testament to never accepting negative predictions against your children.
He is now 13, a year ahead in school as a freshman. He is attending a nationally ranked magnet arts high school and thriving. He made the basketball team and plays trumpet. He is verbal, social, and successful with very few accommodations. He went to New York this summer with his choir group without us. Our biggest problem now is that most people have a hard time believing his diagnosis when they hear it because he seems so "normal". We know there will be challenges still, but we know never to underestimate him or his ability to overcome.
Montgomery, AL