I often say, “When you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Like all students, students on the spectrum vary widely in their strengths, challenges, interests, and struggles. Our understanding of autism is constantly evolving, which means that the way we think about, talk about, and understand autism are, too.

When Charlie Donegan was getting ready to leave preschool, his teachers took his mother, Carla, aside. “They told me, all of the warm fuzzies of this place are going to evaporate; his experience in kindergarten is going to be different.”

For too long, Orchard Friends has been a “best-kept secret”: in our immediate community, around the state, and within the regional special education landscape. Revamping our website presents so many opportunities to change this—and we intend for this blog to play a significant role in making this shift.