"a love story with a twist of autism"

Autism.

It's funny that there is no cure, not even an exact definition. It's what the experts call a "spectrum" disease - meaning you can have it to varying degrees and extremes.

I never dreamt of being a "special ed" teacher, never personally knew someone with autism, did not request these two students. But I learned after ten months of teaching them, what "disabilities" really are: gifts. True, they are burdens, too - that is certain. It's a burden to the child, the family, their friends, their teachers, strangers they encounter.

But there is also a magical quality to working with these kids, and a reward different from teaching and loving the "mainstream" kids. Numerous days I was defeated, at school nearly eleven hours, heading home to return calls to their parents or email notes of the day's events and figure out how to be ready to do it all again the next day, and do it better.

Four months later I wake at night dreaming of my kiddos - sometimes its a vivid nightmare that leaves my face flushed and my stomach in knots. Other times waking with a smile on my face and sweet memories of meaningful moments.

I cannot let them go, and yet in so many ways, I already have.

I read this book this summer, and I don't even have the right words to describe how it made me feel proud of the work I did last year, the relationships I developed, the progress we made as a team. It also made me feel like I did not do enough, I did not appreciate them enough.

If you work with kids, or you look reading about family dynamics, or autism, I recommend it. And actually, I found it at Target on the bestseller shelf. So it's been a hit before I recommended it ot you.