bountifulplate

Dominic starts tenth grade a week from this coming Monday. A handful of my friends have kids around the same age as Dominic who are taking (or have taken driver's education training) and are already practicing driving. While I am very happy for them, a part of me feels a little bummed out (and left out).  I remember very distinctly when Lauren was younger, secretly comparing her to other children her age. Things like, crawling, walking and saying their first words. When you are a parent of a "typically-developing" child, those three things come along pretty much "on track." It's a different ball of wax when they have differing needs. Before Dominic was diagnosed with Autism at 2 1/2, I knew something wasn't quite right, but I was so overwhelmed by everything else going on in my life at the time, that I was just happy to make it through each day. When he started school at age three and still in diapers, I wasn't too concerned. It was much easier just...