The Sock Hop

Bambam's school does a back to school sock hop every September. The gym is decorated, the lights dimmed, the music loud, spot lights, disco balls, lots of kids, parents, laughter, fun. Its a familiar scene played in many schools this time of year. Its a time to kick off the new school year, reconnect with families you haven't seen over the summer, meet new families that are joining the school, and just have a good time. Last year we made it as far as the gym doors. That was it. We never made it inside. After 10 minutes, we went back home.

But this year? This year was a whole different story. This year we not only made it into the gym (after a 5 minute wait outside the doors to take everything in), but we stayed for 45 minutes! And there was dancing and eating snacks and saying hi to classmates! Granted, most of the dancing was by himself just at the edge of the dance floor and there were three 5 minute breaks outside and sitting in a (quieter) corner to have snacks. But 45 minutes! And once, he even let one of his classmates take him by the hand to the middle of the dance floor. Where he stood and watched her dance for about 30 seconds before retreating to the edge. But 45 minutes, without a meltdown. And when he said "I go home now", we calmly left. A HUGE success.

In this journey with autism it is so easy to get caught up in the day to day struggles. Some days it feels like we are not making any progress. Many of the same issues rear their annoying heads day after day after day. But when I step back and compare this year to last year, I can see how far he's really come. How much progress he has made. And my heart sings.