Being Jessica's Mom: Growing up on the Autistic Spectrum

Now that we had Jessica’s IEP in place and saw what worked for her academically, I was less concerned about her going into High School.  And she has been involved with the Middle School Band and many of those kids were transitioning to the High School Marching Band with Jess.  The first big event came two weeks before school even started…BAND CAMP!  This was Jessica’s first overnight excursion (aside from staying with Grandparents for 3-4 days at a time).  I was a little worried, but I had connected with a couple of the band parents and the band teacher over the last two years and they knew Jessica, so this helped to relieve my anxiety, as I knew they would keep a watch out for her and she had safe adults she could gravitate to when needed.  Jessica was already very responsible with taking her medication, so that was less of a concern.  She was so excited to go and I was so excited for her to go (once I knew I had all supports in place).  She was gone for four days and when she came back….BEST TIME EVER!  Whew!, I thought, what a relief….she can do this!  She came back so excited to start High School and now she had a group of peers that accepted her and that she belonged to…she found a tribe!