I became aware of the good, the bad, the ugly & the incredible of Autism when my now 13 year old son was classified as having PDD, which falls under the Autism spectrum. He had delays in crawling, ( didn't till he was almost a year) & then didn't walk until he was almost 15 months old. His speech was unclear & didn't really speak much until he was about 7. He's always been sensitive to loud noise, doesn't like crowds & is still gets a bit anxious when going to new places or his "routine" gets disrupted. But now that all the public tantrums (melt downs) have passed, he has changed, or rather I have. He is now, thanks to his wonderful teachers & therapists, true angels on earth, matured into an extremely articulate, quite friendly, mature teenager. I have learned to understand that it is the behavior & attitude of others that must change, not so much my son's. Autism is both difficult & incredible; what Josh lacks in academics, he masters in interests & common sense. He has memorized over 200 flags that range from states & countries to military & religious to historical flags. He truly is amazing & I wouldn't change a thing about him <3

Melissa H.
Staten Island, NY