Wow, thank you @ambrosial for the resteem and tweet. I feel you on the upvotes, if it were not for getting a delegation contest win this week; mine is the same— moot. I just wanted to share the experience with others and maybe some people can reap some hope and inspiration to tell their stories.
This also speaks to those parents who have children with special needs who are still non-verbal, handicapped, have low test scores, and behavioral frustrations. Our original assessments didn't look encouraging. I'll always accept him as is, period— still, we didn't believe that he couldn't do whatever they said he might not be able to do. Most days I was a wreck. Still am. But he'll be 9. And it's worth it. He's worth it.♥️
You're very welcome. They need a voice like yours. One thing I learned really quick from being around a couple kids on the spectrum is that they are seriously misunderstood. People have an unfortunate tendency to fear the unknown and pass quick judgment. Hell, even children without autism or Asperger's have different learning styles and ways they excel. They can't be all lumped in together with a single approach to learning and growing.
In my (limited) experience, the key with any of them is to just figure out how to reach them. Once that is accomplished, it is amazing to see them break out of their shells and succeed where it was thought they could not. I've seen it happen time and again, even in the ones who are non-verbal or have the behavioral issues. Besides, doctors don't know everything; all they can do is give their best guess. And it is so awesome to see them proven wrong in these situations! 😊