Another Milestone

I'm thinking back to a moment around five years ago, when a self-styled "developmental pediatrician" told us that the Little Rankster was definitely autistic, and we needed to do three things: 1) get him on Ritalin; 2) get him in a special school; and 3) start looking into a residential placement he would probably need in a few years. We did none of those things.

We chose, instead, to use "unproven" biomedical treatments, which we mixed in with speech therapy and a little bit (but only a little bit) of traditional behavioral therapies.

We made those choices, even when a multi-disciplinary team gave us similar advice at the end of a very expensive evaluation.

Our son remained in public school, first in Louisiana, and then here in Illinois after we moved up here a few years ago. At first, he needed a lot of help -- the kind that the schools are required to provide. But as his physical condition improved through the biomedical interventions we used, so did his school performance improve. He's still under an IEP, but last year, he completed the third grade without an aide.

The other day, our son was elected to Student Council. I try to avoid negativity and gloating. So I won't tell that doctor in Mandeville, Louisiana "I told you so." Instead, I'll be positive and tell him he's number one. At least, that's how many fingers I'm holding up and waving in his general direction.