Asperger's Syndrome sufferer Tom Bregnard graduates 5th in his class!

I read in the Mansfield News on TownOnLine.com about high school senior Tom Bregnard.

Tom graduated 5th in his entire senior class and he aced the Advanced Placement (AP) Biology exam, getting a score of five out of a possible five and earning him full college credit.

He'll be attending University on an almost full scholarship and he's majoring in microbiology!

Go-o-o Tom! :)

After a tough (but predictable and typical for Asperger's Syndrome sufferers) middle-school experience and right before high school Tom was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.

Against much advice telling her to not expect much from him, his mom Karen hung tough and made sure Tom was in honor's classes because instinctively she knew that he had the ability to do it and even more importantly, succeed at it.

She also found ways to help Tom deal with his idiosyncracies and "hot buttons" (which no doubt made it easier for Tom to get through his days and therefore succeed :).

Most Asperger's Syndrome sufferers are obsessively occupied with one or two things, so much so that they don't have any interest in other things.

Tom is very into wasp nests and styrofoam packing peanuts so his mom set aside an area in the basement and Tom stores, and even categorizes, his collections there.

Another thing that Asperger's Syndrome sufferers regularly deal with is "the melt-down". They can become so incredibly overwhelmed by something that it causes them to have an emotional breakdown on the spot.

A hot-button for Tom is his grades. If he received a "bad" grade he would "melt-down" in the classroom. These melt-downs were so severe that one time the school staff wanted to call an ambulance.

So, his mom made arrangements to have Tom's grades sent straight to her without Tom even seeing them. A great way to deal with this "hot-button" issue!

There's a lot more to Tom's story but the important part, for these pages, is that thanks to Tom's mom Karen, even with Asperger's Syndrome Tom absolutely excelled in high school and is poised to take his future by storm!

I'd like to personally thank Karen for something she said to the reporter who wrote the story for TownOnLine.com...

She said "I'm never capable of relaxing. He's a work in progress. I will worry forever, but I'm trying to treat myself [to basking in Tom's academic success as he graduates from high school]."

What she said made me realize that I need to focus on my son's achievements in the here and now and take time to enjoy those achievements, without letting worry and concern about his future cloud the enjoyment.

Tomorrow will come soon enough and with it the next bout of challenges.

In order to stay strong enough to overcome those challenges we must take time to enjoy our kids' glorious moments of achievement, free of worry of the next battle.

Besides which, chances are you've earned those worry-free moments every bit as much as your child has earned the glory. :)