On...

Simon was relatively recently diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. I say relatively recently because he's almost 11 and it was only this past school year that we got the official diagnosis. He is fairly high-functioning and can for the most-part (with some challenges) get along in the general education classroom. We have been very fortunate, throughout his school career thus far, to always have a team of people in place that have been willing, capable, and fiercely determined to provide Simon with all of the tools and resources he needs to be successful in an academic setting. As you can imagine, though, there have been (and likely will be), many struggles. Although in many ways, I was not surprised by the diagnosis, he does not present as one might expect. He does not isolate himself from others. In fact, he is usually the first to go up to another child and say "Hi, my name is Simon, would you like to play?" Most people who meet him for a few minutes would