The light at the end of the tunnel.

If you've been a reader here for any length of time, you'll know about our many and varied struggles to get Firstborn and Second Son ready to face the world independant and hopefully self sufficient.   Autism is not an easy condition to live with, nor it it easy to live alongside it.   The highs can be oxygen depriving, the lows can make six feet under look like a day at the park.   I have walked so many angry frustrated miles, mostly up and down the footpath at the bottom of our street, while trying to work out the best way to do things that should come naturally but don't.  We've done button phobia,  food phobias,  waitng-for-the-traffic-lights-to-change-to-the-same-colour-they-were-last-time phobia.   We've tried medications that helped and others that were a catastrophic disaster.   And we've started again.  And again.  And again.   We've struggled with relationships,  school programs and bullies.   With organisational issues and bus timetable freakouts.   With unknown substitute teachers and unexplained classroom changes.  And today, Firstborn's case manager rang me to announce that she's going to have to jab him with a fork to elicit some bad behaviour from him, in order to set his next lot of IEP goals.   He's made the journey from frustrated, fearful and unwilling to face any change to a calm, responsible student in the mainstream academic program, looking at University placements.  And we rejoice.  And are thankful.  Always and forever.