"Your Son Is Capable of Having Functional Speech"

That is exactly what Sean's new speech therapist told me at his evaluation last Monday. She comes highly recommended. Nobody has ever offered our family that kind of hope before. She works with a family member of mine, and with another little boy on the spectrum who lives on our street.We're just getting started down this road (speech therapy), but I'm hoping we have a smooth ride with only a few bumps. But like my grandmother would say, "Don't expect anything and you won't be disappointed". Not that I'm expecting nothing, that wouldn't be true, but we are careful not to expect too much. Watching how hard Sean was working during those sessions to make certain sounds, and to say what he was being asked to say - remember now that he's basically non-verbal - made me very emotional. I had to blink back some tears! My boy is so determined! I love his spirit. He's an amazing child. And as his parents, Mike and I can only return that determination in helping him recover - to the best of his ability. Kids recover from autism every day. Maybe someday that will be our boy too. But if not, we still love him the same as we always have, knowing that we really did try to the best of our ability to give him as many skills as possible for a more normal life.