Don Roach

My little guy is now eight years old. His demeanor is much like mine, he’s pretty calm & often is perfectly fine stepping to his own drum beat. I watch him and his mannerism and I stand in awe at how much his personality is like my own.

Long gone are the days where he couldn’t respond to his name and had almost no ability to interact with others. He still flaps, will sometimes make a mad dash to the door, and his ability to conversate is not the greatest. But as I sit on my couch watching him appropriately play on a laptop, I can’t help but be filled with joy and sadness. Joy in how far he has come and sadness with how far he must travel.

Yet, after another late night at work, I thought about something I have told my wife about Donald – he’s God’s gift to us because God surely knew how much love he would receive in our home. I truly thank God that He saw fit to give us Don and trusted us with that responsibility. As we traverse his challenges in education, his hindrances with communicating with others, his penchant to isolate himself, and his various medical needs they never seem a burden to me.

Instead, I feel like a defender, an advocate, a hero called upon to help someone who needs a little help. And that’s pretty cool if you think about it. Sure, Don can’t flash a bat signal towards Noni & I but he doesn’t have to.

This upcoming week is important for Don. He’s getting a particular evaluation that could shape the next 3 years of his education. If you’ve dealt with any autistic child, I’m sure you’ll understand that early treatment/education is critically important to long term success and this evaluation is make or break for Don. In the upcoming months, I’ll share what’s going on in this journey, but for today I see a kid playing Zoodles on a laptop…and it makes me proud.