Another Milestone in FASD World

Today marks a significant milestone in Diego's life - his last day of third grade. He embarks on the journey to his last year in elementary school next Fall (I'm already talking Fall because it's going to be a loooong summer!).

Diego's done some incredible things this year. Maybe they're not measurable feats for a lot of kids his age but it's amazing he was able to overcome many of his sensory and relational issues to master them:

1) He started third grade reading at fourth grade level and advanced to the 4.2 level by mid-year
2) He learned the multiplication tables to 12
3) He wrote interesting and funny stories in his journal
4) He was chosen to participate in the Tri-County Science Olympiad (his team came in 5th overall) - his comment about not 'winning' was, "Mom, it's okay that I didn't win. I worked hard and did my best, and tried really hard."
5) He was chosen from a group of his peers to participate in a writing workshop that took place after school for a month
6) He was able to eat lunch with a group of friends without supervision by his teacher/para-pro - and he didn't run away!
7) He memorized "The Fifty States That Rhyme" song and sang it in front of his class (ask him to sing it for you the next time you see him)
8) He had one incident where his para-pro had to call me to explain something that happened.... one... for the entire year...
9) He won several awards for reading and writing during the end of the year program

There are more but this post would get far too lengthy. Diego has continually surprised and amazed me, he is beating the odds for an FASD kid, at least for now. And I am so very proud of him.