Manni!!

For Many years I have dealt with a child who most have said I was spoiling or I was too hard on. I have had people yell at me in the middle of the store because I was being "mean" to Emanuel and even had one woman stand between Emanuel and Me. For many years I have tried to explain to people that Emanuel is not like other children his age and they needed to leave me and him alone. I have had to leave carts full of groceries because Emanuel was having a melt down in the middle of the store. I have dealt with the stairs, sour looks, and judgmental comments for a very long time with Emanuel. I had obstacle after obstacle to hurdle over including trying to get his own father to accept his disability. I have fought with courts, doctors, and even phycologist to accept Emanuel for who he was and to help him learn to deal with his own disability. I remember at one point I was told that I should be grateful that Emanuel is not as bad as some of the other (autistic) children they treat!!! I have had people lecture me on my decision to home school Emanuel and place him in school. I was told that he might never be able to read and I need to accept it. I never gave up though and even though there were days that I wanted to just throw in the towel I knew I was Manni's only hope. If I didn't take action who would, what better person then your own mother to advocate for you. Every decision right or wrong that I made I can honestly say was done out of nothing but love and with the best intentions for Emanuel.

Thus being said it was with a very heavy heart last year that I decided that Emanuel needed to attend public school so they could help him. I had taught him to read, write, add, subtract, and so forth and so on but I needed help now. I thought public school was the best way to get the testing that Emanuel needed and to get him the help I felt he needed. I was shocked to see the public school treat us with such disgust and disregard!! I to this day really do feel that God placed Emanuel in Armstrong at that particular time because of who his homeroom teacher was going to be in fifth grade. Mrs. Russell was the most loving, caring, helpful, wonderful, teacher/friend that Emanuel and I could have had/have. I don't think we would have made it through the year with out her and for that I will always hold a special place in my heart for her. She made such an impression on Emanuel that he still talks about her and holds her in the highest regard. She truly was our angel at Armstrong!!! Fortunately after a year of arguing and fighting with the school we were blessed to have Emanuel accepted into HSSH, thus bringing us to mid October of 2012.

Over the past couple of months I have been talking and going to meeting after meeting for Emanuel. I requested a full evaluation be done on Emanuel back in January of last year (2012) at Armstrong. Unfortunately, the school failed to meet federal regulations and didn't test Emanuel in the 90 days given. Fortunately, for us Emanuel was accepted into Harmony School of Science this school year!! I was more then thrilled with the prospect of him going to a school that would actually focus on education and excel the children at what they were good at and help with their weaknesses.

In mid October I requested a meeting and again signed the paperwork for Emanuel to have a full evaluation done. I was concerned that his needs were not being meet at school and he was not going to succeed or reach his fullest potential. Mrs.Gumpf was more then helpful and was very pleasant with me through the whole process. I voiced my concern with the amount of time it was going to take and she reassured me that they would not drop the ball, like Armstrong did!!! I was still very pessimistic about the process and didn't get my hopes up too much. I knew there were laws in place to prevent what had happened to Emanuel, but no matter how much I screamed NOTHING got done at Armstrong. So very much out of my character I was not optimistic about the same process at HSSH.

Much to my surprise I was contacted my a phycologist in the beginning of December. She notified me that she would be preforming the testing on Emanuel and that I needed to set up an appointment to see her. I was thrilled and anxious at the same time, I was finally going to get some answer. In mid December I meet with the phycologist and we sat and chatted like we were old friends about Emanuel. I gave her some very intimate details about Emanuel and his tentative diagnosis of aspergers back when he was six. I was very concerned about Emanuel's academics and were he actually was grade wise and intellectually. All in all I left the meeting feeling optimistic about Emanuel's testing. Again, I felt like I was finally going to get some real answers for Emanuel and myself, giving me better tools to deal with Emanuel.

After having a wonderful Christmas break the kids returned to school and a meeting was set up to go over Emanuel's test results. As a mother I felt like my world was being turned upside down and I was not sure what to expect. I prayed for days, asking God to give me some peace so I could function better in the meeting, and He heard me loud and clear. The day of the meeting the psychologist who evaluated Emanuel called me to confirm what I had though for a very long time, Emanuel was Autistic. It was not just a social aspect for him it was everything from being over loaded to dealing with change. She gave me a few more details about what to expect that afternoon in the meeting, settling my nerves. Wow, the power of prayer!!!!

That afternoon I meet Emanuel's father up at HSSH and we entered the meeting I had waited a year to have. The evaluation showed so much about Emanuel, things that I had never noticed as a parent. He was very strong in quite a few area's but the areas he was week in he was VERY weak in them. We talked about a lot of my concerns and I asked a lot of questions. Like how to help Emanuel become more organized, to his education, and even him dealing with change in his enviroment. The ARD confirmed so many of the things I had been screaming about for years to doctors and even the school. He needed an aid to help him stay on track and keep redirecting him in subjects he was week n like math and writing. I left the meeting feeling in powered and optimistic about Emanuel's future.

So after so many years I was able to finally say what was once a tentative diagnosis has now been changed to a deferent diagnosis of autisum. His medical records have now been updated and he will be able to tap into some social and behavior theropies to help him as well. It was as if someone had lifted a huge burden off my shoulders and instead of obstacles being placed in front of me helping hands were now in there place. I have fought long and hard as Emanuel's advocate and we have finally reached a place in both our lives were everyone is on the same page! He doesn't need more discipline he needs more structure and people to accept him for him. He doesn't need to have people say he is just being suborn about it or rude, but yet helped him to deal with situations as they come. For people to accept he will have certain limitations and might never be able to have a lengthy personal conversation with some one, but instead work hard at his job and be good at it. There is NO CURE, Emanuel is autistic and that does not mean he will never become anything it just means he has to work harder at some things then others. For instance he is 12 and knows how to write simple computer programs, has networked my house, placed duel screening on all the computers, and so forth and so on. He is amazing when it comes to electronics and because I have nurtured this from a very young age he will succeed in a field he is good at.

Emanuel: VERY GOOD WITH COMPUTERS, LOVING, CARING, HELPFUL, CONSIDERATE, LOVES COOKING, SEES NO FLAWS IN OTHERS, DOES NOT SEE PEOPLE FOR WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE BUT FOR WHO THEY ARE INSIDE, INNOCENT, LOVES TO RIDE HIS BIKE, LOVES ALL ELECTRONICS, and autistic

OH, AND MY SON!!!!