College News

I know some of you have been praying for us and our decision about Bantam19 returning to college next semester.

I know, because we've come to remarkable clarity on this issue:  We are sending him back.

In my first conversation with his adviser, she wasn't sure if he could handle college.  She's the one who first planted the suggestion that he might do better focusing on one course at a time.  But in that first conversation, it was also a revelation to her that B19 has autism, though I thought she had been told that from the beginning, as I requested.

In our second conversation, after meeting with B19 several times to discuss his writing, she had a completely different take on him.  This time she strongly encouraged me to give him another chance.  She was frustrated, as we have been, that the support that he needed wasn't set up for him from the very beginning.  She assured me that if he came back, he would have a very different experience.

That conversation alone seemed to strongly point toward allowing him to return.  Oh, and regarding his weight gain from eating in the dining hall, she assured me that next semester, a Fitness major would be assigned to work out with him and in her words, "keep him on the straight and narrow." What else could we ask for?

Well, passing grades, we thought.

So when his grades were posted and he had pulled in two C+'s and a C, we were very pleased.  If he can do that well without any support, in his first semester of college, we figure he can probably pass enough classes to graduate.

His Algebra grade is still not showing up, and we are all hoping for a D-.  B19 doesn't speak Math.  But his algebra teacher gave him hours of extra time on his final, and when he still wasn't done, she offered to come back in after the Christmas break had begun so that he could finish it.  I couldn't believe it!  Turns out she has an autistic son too.  Her willingness to go the extra mile with him spoke to us.  Another confirmation to give the kid another chance.

Finally, we received a couple of financial windfalls that just seemed like God saying, "What further objections could you have?"

So Papa Rooster is taking him back to school tonight.  He has a MWF 8:00 class in the morning.  (Something I managed to avoid ever taking when I was in college!  But he's a better morning person than I am.)

It's been nice having him around for vacation.  He's been helpful with dishes, and playing Legos with younger brothers, and even helped sort Barbies from Playmobil from Hot Wheels from K'nex.  He also managed to lose 12 pounds in the last month, by avoiding dessert and carefully not eating till he was full, but only eating to put something in his stomach--his own discovery.  He also used our treadmill almost daily, at least to walk for awhile, and he told me today that he's looking forward to an exercise routine and getting fit.

So we are really encouraged, in many ways, and I am eager to see how this second semester of college goes for him.

Thank you, those who have been praying for him, and for us.

Thank you, Lord, for such clear direction for his immediate future.  Thank you for him, and for who he is, with all his eccentricities and delightful quirks.  Thank you for such good relationships with his younger siblings, who will miss him.  Bless him, Lord, with support and friendships and knowledge opening up before him.  Give him diligence and perseverance, and teach him to communicate his needs and limit his distractions.  Thank you, Lord, for loving and caring for him continually.  Amen.