Congratulations Justin!!!!!!!!

Today my son is graduating from high school. It is really quite a remarkable day! Justin was born with a genetic disease called neurofibromatosis. This may have been a significant contributing factor to his learning disabilities and his delay in speech. When he started Kindergarten his teacher suspected he had autism, he spent most days at school sitting under his desk. He was diagnosed in the 2nd grade with adhd, attention deficit hyper-activity disorder, and shortly thereafter with aspergers disorder, a form of autism. Justin spent the majority of his time in elementary school in the special education room and when he reached middle school he was put into a program called "life skills." It was assumed that he would not attend college and would need these basic skills to succeed in life. He learned things like counting money and how to cook. When Justin was in the 8th grade we moved to a new school district and while he remained in the special education program his teachers really wanted him to be mainstreamed, to spend as much time as he could handle in the regular classrooms. As Justin's freshman year was approaching we talked with his teachers about high school and our expectations and goals for Justin. It is much easier to place kids in the special education program than it is to pull them out once they are in high school so we made the decision to pull Justin from the special education program and essential "threw him in the deep end" and boy could he swim!!!! This decision made the difference between whether Justin would graduate from high school with a certificate of completion or with a diploma. You must have a diploma to attend college. Well tomorrow Justin will be receiving his high school diploma!

In addition to the educational obstacles Justin had to overcome were the medical issues as well. One of the most common medical issues with neurofibromatosis is scoliosis. Justin has had five spinal surgeries. His first when he was in the 4th grade, his fifth in the 11th grade. Some people would feel sorry for themselves, or be bitter or angry with the hand they were dealt but Justin approaches everyday with a smile on his face and a willingness to lend a hand. He is such a remarkable young man, I am so very proud of him! Justin is planning to go to college to become a video game programmer and I have every confidence that he will achieve his goals.

Well, I bet you didn't stop by today for a story... but you sure got one! What I wanted to share with you is a card I made for Justin that I will be giving to him at his graduation celebration tomorrow. I used some new Stampin' Up! dsp that will be available when the new catalog comes out in July. It is super cute, bright and cheery! I also used the owl punch... how cute is that for a "wise old owl!?!" I rolled up a piece of white card stock, wrapped a little baja blue around it and wahlah... a diploma!! I also added a little cap, wings and some heavy eye lids, all inspired by the very talented Teneale Williams.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

~Sara~