When the Doctor walked into the room and said, "I'm sorry to have to tell you that your son has Autism," we didn't know what to think. Was he going to live? What was Autism? We had never heard of it before. We had two other children at the time of his diagnosis, one the age of 14 years old and the other the age of 10, both perfectly normal. It was not until that day in the Doctor's office when we were there for Eric's 2 year check-up that Autism had ever come up in conversation. Eric is now 11 years old, and although Eric has his good and bad days, he is an amazing little man. He fights the stereotypes of Autism everyday.

Our family has a wonderful connection with Eric. We choose to treat Eric just as any other eleven year old boy. Eric is different, but it is what makes him who he is. He has such a wonderful and enticing personality. Eric is getting ready to graduate from Elementary school this year and will be moving to Middle school in the Fall. We are so proud of him for everything that he has overcome thus far. We encourage Eric to work hard in school, so that someday he too can go to college. He is a blessing to our family and we are so lucky that God has picked us to be his parents, big brother, big sister, and niece.