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From Lynna Kay
My son, Logan, is 7. He was non-verbal until age 4. We had placed him on a specialized diet to fit his needs that his body had and to fill deficiencies in necessary areas. I have always used American Sign Language with my son. I have a severe hearing impairment and unfortunately, it is hereditary. So Logan needed signing for that purpose to begin with, and through that we found it also improved his receptive language. In the meantime, the diet had been going on strictly for near 6 months and his SLP retested his language. She had to give it more than one look because his expressive language had jumped 45 entire points. Proof of this was found for sure when we went to the audiologist for his new hearing aid molds, he hates having this done. Anything touches his ears and it is meltdown pandemonium. So there were 5 people holding him done and the audiologist inserting the gooey gunk into his ear. He has to sit still (ha) for 5 minutes until it sets. His hand broke loose from someone's grasp and his face was beet red and all teary eyed. He looked me IN THE EYE, pointed his finger at me, and shouted "I AM MAD AT YOU!!!" I was thrilled! Only a parent with a child that has communication problems would get this - but he expressed to me how he was feeling. He used his words and it was the most beautiful moment. Even the audiologist had tears in her eyes - she got it too. Logan has been such a ray of sunshine in our lives, and the lives of others. Everyone at school, teachers and students, love him. What more could I ask for other than a child that brings pure joy and exuberance into the lives of others?

Thank you for allowing me to share my story,
Lynna Kay

From JoAnne Natale
I am a social worker who works in an elementary school in New York. I was working with a third grade boy on the spectrum who needed practice playing games without getting upset when he lost. We were playing Connect Four and he was winning most of the time so he wasn't getting much practice with losing. We were almost at the end of one of the games when the bottom opened up and all of the chips fell through. I told him that it was ok and we could play another game. He said, "I remember where they go" and he replaced about twenty-five chips from memory. That was the first clue I had that he has a fantastic visual memory. He can do all kinds of difficult math problems in his head and oh yes, he can lose a game just fine now without getting upset. He just doesn't lose very often!

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