Sheila, I've posted my son's story many times. He's like Nathan. Lucas was exposed to crack, raged, banged his head against the walls and floor, echoed, didn't speak or potty until five, was told had "boderline intellect" and was misdiagnosed with ADHD/ODD and bipolar. He's thirteen and with aggressive intervention is bright, happy, calm and practically mainstreamed. His aide is a 1-3 aide who doesn't really need to help Lucas much and tech college is our plan for him now. He has no behavior problems now--is my easiest child. I would adopt ten more of him. He has a heart of gold. There is so much hope for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) these days, and more and more interventions are happening. He will always have Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (we see signs mostly when he's at home in his room), but he has improved to the point of our thinking he can possibly live in his own apartment with some assistance. We'd never dreamed that possible when he was young. And the idea of college for him had been a sad joke.
