For those of you who have been around long enough to remember his arrival I thought I'd give you an update on our son Brendan. He's ten years old today and still growing like a weed. He's a little skinny currently but I think he's just going through a growth spurt and will begin to fill out soon enough.

We're still treating his autism of course - that will be a life long process. But we're really pleased with the services available to us here in Georgia. As conservative as Georgia is they are pretty progressive in this area as far as programs and acceptance. Actually I'm working at becoming a puppeteer and putting together some plays with some other parents in order to perform at some local elementary schools in order to add to their diversity training for the kids and teachers.

Brendan is still way behind on his speech. He can say his vowels { when requested } but consonents are still a big problem. If we can get him to talk we'll be making real progress to our goal of his being able to live an independant life of his own someday. Which I think is what we want for all of our kids. He loves to swim - the toughest thing we do is trying to convince him it's time to get out of the pool. And his mini-trampolines get a real workout. And his matchbox car collection continues to grow. But what he's really attached to is his chopsticks. He carries four of them all the time. There are never far away and he needs them to go to sleep at night. We're considering an assistance dog like a golden lab that he can be made responsible for and he could pal around with.

Anyway I thought some of you may have wanted to hear how he has progressed. Many thanks for all of support you've given us in the past. And we appreciate the good wishes you'll be sending us in the future.