This month two WAAA families are sharing some of their good news from the past school year.

School can be a challenging place for kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Part of WAAA’s mission is to help parents advocate for a good education for their children, ensuring that kids have the right supports and encouragement that allow them to gain academic and social skills and help prepare them for the future.

Stone, a second grader, is a very fun and funny boy who has high-functioning ASD. He was once completely nonverbal but is making great strides with his talking and communication. He has great sense of humor and loves to laugh (and make others laugh).

His parents feel fortunate that Stone has an excellent special education teacher who does a great job of keeping them apprised of new milestones or developments at school. Some of his accomplishments:

• playing with toys as they are intended more often

• playing games for the first time (including Dominoes and Chutes & Ladders).

• showing more interest (and patience) with reading books and using flash cards.

Stone's teacher recently told them about a recent activity and Stone's positive responses:

"Today, we introduced a cardboard tube, then proceeded to model different ways of playing with it (looking through it, whispering through it, dropping toys through it). Stone really enjoyed the new ideas, and we heard a lot of great speech, including good approximations of 'give it to me' and 'pick that up'," the teacher wrote.

Stone's parents David and Renee say that, "WAAA has been a tremendous resource for us in so many ways. Arzu and Trish have been great at answering questions and providing information we need to help with the arduous and maddening insurance reimbursement process. They have also been great at sharing useful information and providing ongoing support to us during this journey. We are huge WAAA fans!"

"We're much more optimistic about Stone's future than we were even a couple of years ago. We're seeing so much development and progress in a number of key areas that we know it's a matter of when, not if, he'll reach the point of being a fully functional/independent individual. There is no doubt that he will likely always have some challenges that others may not have but he's so strong and smart that I know he'll rise to the occasion. Of course, the key to all of this will be continued extra support and therapy in the years ahead, but it all is worth it!"

Gavin is 5 years old and will start kindergarten in the fall.

Gavin loves books and music. His dad and mom have read to him almost every day since he was born. Both sides of his family are musical and he can pick out notes on his keyboard to go along with the songs playing on the radio, in the right tempo. He likes watching football on TV, and playing basketball with his mom.  He was born with a spontaneous mutation of the 15th chromosome, which came along with global developmental delays as well as autism.

This year in school, Gavin has made a lot of progress with PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System), and many of his classmates were really friendly and encouraging. He can also tell his teachers when he needs a break so he can calm his engine down. He became comfortable with the classroom routine pretty quickly.

“We gain and lose skills, but we will continue to work hard to help Gavin become as independent as possible. He has a great attitude and works really hard. He's a wonderful kid and deserves a good education and appropriate therapy,” says his mom Kate.

Through WAAA, Gavin’s parents have accessed information that have helped them stay aware about the current resources and legislation that support Gavin.