Ashton Elliot describes how his son has thrived while being homeschooled. Have a success story you want to share? Click here.

I admit I wasn’t surprised when my youngest son was diagnosed with autism at the age of four. It had been a long road to that diagnosis, and now we officially had the paperwork that would open all sorts of doors for my son and our family.

Our autism journey began when my son was a newborn. He never looked other people in the eyes, and he hated both being cuddled and being put down.

He resisted new foods and would bang his head and rock like he was front and center on stage in a one-man rock band.

Along with severe allergies to foods and environmental triggers, my son was diagnosed with a genetic condition, 1q21.1 duplication syndrome, as well as ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder). This added to our daily struggle.

Separation anxiety

When we reached kindergarten, I had to stay with him as he had developed separation anxiety in the very first week. From then on, I was asked to spend my days volunteering my time with them to keep him there.