Holland, Idaho, The Road Less Traveled, Amen

While reading sfgate.com, I came across a link to a great piece by Emily Perl Kingsley titled "Welcome to Holland." As Laura Shumaker notes in her online article "Autism & Parenting, Drive By Phone Calls," it's very apt for parents.

James may only have just turned 5, but I've had a few wake-up calls of my own.

• The times when people ask him his name and how old he is at the park, and James either does not answer or makes his "ahhhh, ahhh, aaaaah!" sounds.
• Hearing parents talk about Kindergarten teacher discussions when this year we are girding up to insist on full inclusion for our son, crossing our fingers all the while that this will work, and wondering which of the Kindergarten teachers will be volunteering to take full inclusion children, and when we'll hear who they are, so we can advocate for who we feel will be our best choice for our son.
• Being moved to tears at the first play group my son had with a group of children, at age 4.

Taking deep breaths because I feel it in my bones that James will never fit into any of the check boxes or pegged holes by which a bureaucratic system runs. Forget Holland, some days it's Bora-Bora, the moons of Saturn, or the forgotten side road that everyone on the Rat Race Hwy passes by, but somehow catches the eye of my son.