My oldest son, Julian (6), got accepted at St. Anthony's School today. After many nightmarish months battling the public school system, I was just done. He is such a brilliant child, I just want more for him than IEP meetings where nothing ever gets accomplished and an environment where he is not intellectually stimulated. I decided to see if a private school would even accept him....what did I have to lose? It's not like they can take away my birthday or anything...all they could say was "No".

So, I gave this school a call and told them that I had a first-grader that I would like to enroll. I did NOT tell them that Julian is autistic. The whole process could have ended right there. I wanted them to see a very smart little boy before they attach any labels to him. An interview/tour of the school was set up. I made sure to tell them how smart Julian is.

The secretary could hear Julian in the background. He was on the computer navigating Google Earth. He had zoned in on the tallest building in the world which he found on YouTube. The secretary told me that she was going to have the school principal contact me. He called 20 minutes later and Julian was still talking about this building. The principal stated that he himself would like to talk to Julian and would that be okay....

I spent a week as a nervous wreck and finally, showtime arrived this morning. I was prepared to fight but the whole interview went way better than I could have imagined. The pricipal knew right away that Julian is autistic yet high-functioning and he was blown away by Julian. He personally invited Julian to attend first grade! I almost started to cry but I was able to control myself.

I asked the principal why he felt that Julian would thrive at this school. After all, this will be the third school Julian has gone to and he is starting first grade! This school is very strict as most catholic schools are, and the boys and girls wear uniforms. There is no lunchroom, the kids eat at their desks. The principal knows much about Autism and i was told that all of these factors will significantly help Julian. He was very positive and optimistic and so was the rest of the staff. They can't wait to have Julian come to school....insatnt support system here.

I am so proud of Julian I could burst. He conducted himself so well throughout the whole process and he amazed everybody. He walked right over to the globe of the earth in his new classroom and showed us where Finland is, what the weather is like and that the Finnish soldiers fought on skis during World War II. Everybody's jaw dropped...it was awesome. The principal looked at me and stated, "This is an extremely bright little boy you have....we are so pleased that you want to enroll him."

All I have to say is GO JULIAN!!!