Hope

He did it.

My son graduated from high school yesterday.

Now, you might be thinking- “That’s great Amy, but tons of kids graduate from high school every year!”.

But here’s the thing that’s different for us- for my son- for my family.

You see, when my son was just barely two years old, we received a heart-stopping, beat-you-to-the-ground diagnosis. A diagnosis of Autism- which I wrote about in a previous post titled “Isn’t Everything Supposed to Go Right?”.

At that time, we didn’t even know if my son would be able to talk in full sentences, engage with his peers to play and socialize, or be able attend traditional school. We just didn’t know what his future held. There was so much uncertainty, heart-ache, and difficulty. Every day was difficult. Every day (it seemed) brought more and more challenges and every day we (at least I) thought about what his future would (or wouldn’t) bring.

Relatively early in our Autism journey, I remember hearing about a family that had an Autistic child similar to mine who by the time he was in 10th Grade no longer qualified for his diagnosis.

I always had that number in my head- 10th Grade. It was a mark on the calendar in my head that I longed to get to. It would be the time when my son would be able to rise above his diagnosis and succeed in ways we couldn’t imagine when he was two years old.

10th Grade was what was always in my head when we worked tirelessly to not only help our son from the behavioral side- but also from a whole body perspective. Addressing dietary sensitivities, gut dysbiosis and other “bio-medical” issues. We were open to alternative therapies, treatments and dietary supplements, along with more traditional therapies of OT, Speech & Language, etc. This, of course, included Primitive Reflex Integration- once I learned about it.

There’s actually some irony in the whole 10th Grade thing.

You see, although my son didn’t “lose his diagnosis” by 10th Grade, he still had made TREMENDOUS progress by that time. And in fact, last week at Senior Awards Night, he was awarded a scholarship that is based upon having high scores on the 10th grade MCAS tests.

And- for those of you that aren’t in MA or aren’t familiar with MCAS, they are standardized tests that kids in public schools are required to take and in order to graduate high school, kids must pass the 10th Grade MCAS tests. However, not only did my son PASS, he passed with scores high enough to win him that scholarship a few years later- as a graduating senior.

How crazy is that?

And, we didn’t even know he won the scholarship until a few weeks ago, although we were aware that he scored well on those 10th Grade MCAS.

You just never know where life is going to lead you, do you? It’s been a long, hard road with my son- but he did it. He graduated high school, is going on to Community College, and then most likely a four-year college after that!

At age two, it was hard to hold out hope. At age two, I held on to that 10th Grade mark in the calendar in my head. I (and my husband) worked as hard as we could to support him, advocate for him, and make sure he got the supports he needed.

Holding onto hope was one of the greatest gifts I had.

If you’re in a similar situation, even without a similar diagnosis, hold out hope mom, dad, family.

Hold onto hope.

Amazing things CAN and DO happen.