"I love someone with Autism"

"I love someone with Autism" and his name is Stevie Jr. age 9. He is our our grandson, our son Steve's son.

I consider Stevie as a special angel and a special gift to us from God. Last summer Stevie's dad brought him here to Grandpa and Grandma's for a visit. What a wonderful week of discovering new things about our special angel.

Our little Stevie is so very special. Though they say that these special ones don't "connect" we can go a year between visits with him and his dad, but the moment he sees us he is ready for a hug. He remembers us!! That amazes me every time. I expect him to have to get to know us all over again, but I've learned that that isn't so. It's as if we've never been apart and he picks right up where we left off.
Being a grandma I want to hug our little Stevie and my advances are usually met with flailing arms and a resounding "Bye byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" which means, "Get lost, Grammy. I'm busy right now". He makes me smile. I know that when he's ready he'll let me get my hugs in.

Anyway, now you have met my special little angel. We're going to go see him and his dad this summer and they're coming here again for Christmas this year. I can't wait to see the new things Stevie is doing and the increases in his vocabulary and so on. More than anything, I hope that the day will come when he'll be able to express what it's like to live with this terrible disorder. When we understand more about it, we'll better know how to be there for him and to make life a little easier. For now, we depend on the love in our hearts for him and his for us. Love is a powerful tool and this little special one is surrounded by a lot of love.

If you would like to know more about Autism or if you two have a special Autistic angel in your life, there is a great site with the latest in research for this disorder. It's http://autism.com/
I would love to hear from you if too so email me at mary1440@gmail.com.

Until next time,

Mary