bountifulplate

This past Tuesday was Dominic's first day of sixth grade. The hubby, Lauren and I were all part of the send off "crew." Shortly before his bus came to pick him up, we were explaining to Dominic that when he came back home (he had a half-day), Lauren would need to leave to go back to college. Both Lauren and I saw the tears welling up in his eyes. Even though Dominic has Autism, and a "classic" symptom of Autism is "impaired" social interaction, he is one of those kids that wears his heart on his "sleeve."  You can tell by looking at him how he is feeling.    The "kids" were able to spend an hour or so together and then she had to pack up. Dominic really did not want her to go. He even went over to his daily "schedule" and crossed off, "Lauren go back to college," which I had written earlier in the morning. I said, "Dominic, did you think if you cross it off, that means she would stay here?"...

Before I had Dominic, I had absolutely NO CLUE what Autism was. As I have mentioned before, my only frame of reference was the movie, Rain Man .  I thought all children and adults with Autism lived in institutions and were non-verbal (and, if they did talk, it was to themselves). I also thought they were unable to show emotions. Wow, what a different "view" I have now. I think if I could put the past eight years since Dominic's diagnosis into two words, it would be, "eye-opening." I have learned that not all children and adults live in institutions. Some do, but a lot don't. Yes, there are children and adults that are non-verbal, but that doesn't mean they can't hear. Lauren told me once her thoughts on Autism. She said, "mom, every child is "in there," you just have to find a way to reach them." What a profound statement, wouldn't you say? I have had people ask me whether the "window has closed" for Dominic. The ...