Today I said goodbye to a 14 year old student who battled Leukemia 3 times in his short life. He was born with Down's Syndrome, heart issues and legally blind and while I've only known him for two years, I never saw a day that that boy wasn't happy and greeted everyone he met with a smIle. (((((Hugs))))) Jill.

My son seemed like a healthy happy child until the age of 3 when his regressions began. Can I pinpoint it exactly, no. Do I feel like a horrible mother because of this, yes. I gave birth to my son late in life (42) and while pregnant with him my mother fell and broke her hip and never walked again. I spent the next 9 years of my life and my son's life being the primary caregiver to my two elderly parents, as I was their only child. At age 3, a child who had previously ate everything you put in front of him drastically started to gag on food and over time his likes became very rigid. The fascination with trains, wheels,spinning objects started and by the time he was in Kindergarten his teacher told us we ought to be looking into Asperger's. The next three school years were one dread filled day after another, until he was officially diagnosed at age 8 with Asperger's. At that point the school had to listen to us and I demanded an IEP meeting, Aidan finally started to receive services and the principal that had given us such a hard time "retired," after several emails to the our Superintendent. It is still a struggle to educate the "educated" but we trudge on in the hopes that while there my never be a cure for Autism (for those yet to be conceived) at least we can have understanding and acceptance of those that are among us now. Honestly I sometimes wonder if this isn't perhaps evolution, maybe on an accelerated pace.

I feel your pain, my son will begin 5th grade this year and I am already holding my breath (so to speak.) Hugs to you.

My son is going into 5th grade this fall and I am dreading all the transitions that come with this year. Of course everyone on his team is reassuring me not to worry about it, don't stress, but... Yes, for the most part the years have gone more smoothly the older he has gotten and the more aware and involved his team is in his day to day interactions but it has not always been this way. His first three years of elementary school were not easy ones and I know what transition does to him. There is the transition to a new teacher this year and then shortly after school starts 5th grade camp (5 days with just peers and teachers), and switching between the three 5th grade teachers for various subjects during the course of each day. I am bracing myself for a rocky year, I hope I will be pleasantly surprised but as the saying goes, "hope for the best, prepare for the worst." Thank you for reminding me that I am not alone and isolated in my feelings.