patrick

remember patrick? i met patrick when he was 3 years old, on one of my first jobs out of college. i taught him six days a week (one on one!) for 2 years. he was diagnosed with autism, and could not speak a word when i first saw him. although, i knew he was a smart boy right away - he had an excellent memory, and loved learning. because he could only make letter sounds and could not string them together, i actually had to teach him a few sign language words at some point- just so he would be able to ask for things he wanted, without getting frustrated. one afternoon, though, as we were going through his speech exercises, he was suddenly able to say a word straight and clear. and he didn't stop talking from that time on. he went on to study in smaller "mainstream" schools, first with a shadow teacher and eventually, on his own.

today, i got a text from his mom that said: "i would like to share the joyful confusion and dilemma i'm going through regarding patrick's college education. he passed entrance exams in all universities he took exams in: UST, UP, Ateneo and La Salle!.....where will he study? UP!....then we found out, being part of the director's list (top 200 qualifiers), ateneo is offering a 5K book allowance...and then just today, DLSU offered patrick a star scholarship - a full scholarship program- because he landed in the top 60 qualifiers!....i cried tears of joy.... a boy who wasn't accepted in pre-school because of his autism is now being offered a full scholarship for undergrad (and even postgrad!) studies..."

awww!!!! i cried tears of joy too. (and still keep crying everytime i read her text. hehe.) i could not be prouder for patrick :)

just wanted to share :)