[Don Plumley]

My 28 year old is on the spectrum. There were some very rough years. We (I mean my wife) home schooled him through High School. Then bang - he blossomed. Two tech degrees and today he's living in Dallas with his girlfriend of 10 years, doing great at his job as a Sys Admin. We prodded him into his first job (but never went on interviews or any of that rotary wing stuff), but after that this is all on him. I'm so proud I'm in tears thinking about it. To meet him today you might not notice, but we do, especially when he's let his guard down around family. I'm happy to chat offline with any of you with younger kids with Asperger's/Spectrum. There can be a happy ending to the story.

When our daughter was looking for a serving job in NYC, we are super-well connected there. Could help her land an interview with a phone call. Instead, we said, "This one is on you. You are unproven and unknown to the industry. Go show them what you are made of and if it works like we think it will, then we can help open doors for the next job." Since then she's done it all on her own too, and I'm proud that both kids have long been off my payroll. That's why they get to go on kick-ass holidays together.

They don't pass out a handbook on how to raise kids - and each kid is so different. Knowing when to push, when to hold back - it's a lot like teaching them to ride a bike. You gotta take the training wheels off and let them skin a few knees, and some folks just don't have the stomach for that, to the detriment of their kids. The goal of parenting is to raise independent adults. If you are lucky you get to be friends with them as adults and it sure is fun to hang out with people you love and admire.