My boy is a graduate, and he's not even in kindergarten yet!

Jackson's graduation from NUAP (Northern Utah Autism Program) was today. We've been looking forward to being free of some of the inconveniences sending him to Ogden has brought with it, and having him attend kindergarten across the street. But Amy and I were both surprised at how verklempt we got at the end of this chapter of Jackson's life. And even more so at the quality of the ceremony. Having a graduation ceremony for autistic children is kind of like herding cats, so we thought it would be short and sweet, but they had some really nice touches while not making it painfully long like, well... every other graduation I've been to. Anyway, the people that run NUAP are wonderful. They love the kids as if they were their own, and it's a great support group, almost like an extended family. Moving on to kindergarten, even a special needs one, will be an adjustment. We feel very lucky to have had Jackson in there for a year and a half. He's made progress, but we still have work to do to help him reach his potential. But hats off to Anita Ure, Terri Drca, Jamie Tuveson, and the others who have watched over our boy.

Jackson staring into the Great Beyond and mulling his future plans of Goldfish crackers and a smoothie.

Jackson with his teacher, Jamie. He's not looking at the camera, which is completely appropriate for him, because he never looks into the camera except by accident approximately 5 percent of the time. Anyway, we're looking forward to more of these... okay, not really, but we're looking forward to seeing what other future accomplishments he's able to pull off, and other tricks he might have up his sleeve.