“So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.” 

-Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

Our long road to BRIGHTLinks began when our oldest son was 18 months old. Back then he generally accepted his stroller accommodations, provided adequate snack cup treats and a full sippee cup of ice cold water. This particular fall day, occupied with shopping, Julian was entertained by watching cars pull in and out of their parking spots as his stroller faced outwards towards a window. From the stroller came a clear and confident “Buick!” followed closely by “Volvo!”, my husband and I looked at each other in one of those slow-mo-eyes-meet-and-widen moments of “what did he just say?” Well, he had memorized the car badges from his extensive Hot Wheels car collection. As first time parents, we of course didn’t fully understand how unique his obsession was. Fast forward six months when we begin to interview preschools and he shows the school headmistress that cars have a front and back and can only be driven one way. At least she gave us a hint that this wasn’t typical.

The journey continued for our family, hanging on for dear life as we sought to support his intellectual and social needs. We found a Montessori school that worked for a full preschool year and six weeks of Kindergarten. The writing was on the wall at an early school pick up when I found him firmly rooted under a table because he had done everything that was to be done and all he looked forward to was outdoor recess. We brought him home, administered a third-party Woodcock Johnson IV Achievement test, and made a plan B, this time involving homeschooling. 

We are eleven years on from this now and our year-by-year homeschooling option has worked. Three brothers were born and our homeschool has grown. Our first child prepared us for the wide variance and challenge of HG/PG children.  The challenge is truly the challenge in that they are all so unique. We have desperately sought appropriate academic rigor and social connectedness for our sons. Our family has found a variety of activities, sports, and outlets, a few with success, many not really working out.

Six years ago, the winding road landed us an opportunity for our oldest son to take a computer science class with peers at BRIGHTLinks. Julian was keen on coding anything. The challenge that presented itself was that the ideas flowed fluidly to the fingers and the fingers couldn’t execute quickly enough. Despite this frustration, which would be a huge impediment in any traditional school environment, and some days driven to woeful tears, the BRIGHTLinks adults and peers accepted him, allowed him to work through these hard times, and as I like to say he learned to type not by “Mavis Beacon”, but by “coding Python”.

Our entire family has benefited from the BRIGHTLinks community. Our children have flourished in taking classes with peers, and as they build confidence it extends outward to be able to encourage others. Our family has benefited immensely from the BRIGHTLinks mission to offer support for the needs of these amazing kids and equally importantly, their families. BRIGHTLinks students and families connect because often times we might think more deeply, believe with conviction, or have passions that go higher, wider, and deeper. In looking back, there are moments in one’s life when something feels so right that you cannot recall ever not having or knowing it. Our family wouldn’t be who we are today without the amazing acceptance and encouragement from the BRIGHTLinks community. We are grateful for knowing all of you.