Everyone knows that having a baby, raising a child, and growing a family is a journey. But where the journey takes you depends on the circumstances. The circumstances that brought Quinn to us, and that continue to propel our family forward, have sent us on flights of both spiraling terror and breathtaking beauty.

When Quinn suffered seemingly endless grand mal seizures after his fourth day on earth, we were told he might not live, but two weeks later we brought him and his unbreakable spirit home. 

When Quinn failed to roll-over, sit-up and crawl on time, we were told Quinn might never walk independently. But after holding our hands (and the hands of many patient friends) and walking miles and miles of circles around our dining room, Quinn finally let go and took his first steps towards freedom.

When Quinn was three and a half years old, he had fewer than ten words, a Scottish-brogue of a “gaugh” (go) being his favorite and most clear. We were told to get more serious about sign language because, odds were, our son would never really talk. But instead, we got more serious about finding alternatives to our current therapies, and after landing on The Son-Rise Program® and putting it into full operation, Quinn’s word repertoire is extensive and he is communicating with 2, 3, 4 and 5 word sentences.

And yet Quinn has only just begun his expedition of defying the odds …

At four years old, Quinn has yet to ask a question. He can walk but he hasn’t yet learned to run. He loves people but he hasn’t figured out how to play with other children. All signs that he may be facing his greatest challenge yet: Autism Spectrum Disorder. 

The Autism Spectrum is a vast expanse of symptoms, characteristics and behaviors and where Quinn falls on the spectrum, we don’t exactly know. Our neurologist’s closest guess at this time is “PDD-NOS” (Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified),” which basically means, Quinn isn’t developing normally, but there’s no clear reason why. Quinn has never been one to fit neatly into any label, but we do know that somewhere in that ever-expanding definition of “autism” our son is wandering, waiting to be found…and recovered.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the use of the word “recovery” in reference to children on the autism spectrum. Detractors believe it is misleading, even cruel to encourage parents to believe in a day when their children might engage with the world the way any other typical child might – with a playful sense of curiosity and delight. 

However, the more hopeful among us, and there are many, hold fast to the belief that it is possible to hold two truths simultaneously, to fully accept our children for exactly who they are at any given moment, while at the same time dwelling in possibility.

We know that Quinn can’t yet run, but we believe that Quinn can FLY!