At 8 and a half, Curtis' friendships have largely been fostered by the adults who care for him. He spends the most time with his older cousin with his dad and uncle around. At school, his ed tech has done a great job of organizing small lunches and other activities that have served as the foundation for great relationships. His mom and in home support help have taken him to friendship groups and activity nights sponsored by Woodford's Family Services. All this has helped to tackle Curt's large difficulties with socialization.

While the adults in his life do all we can to get Curtis going socially, there is no substitute for taking the social skills and scripted language he's learned and developing relationships largely on his own. We spent last week at a family camp in Vermont, the same one we went to last year, providing a perfect setting to allow Curtis to explore new friendships with the people we'd be spending day and night with for a whole week.

As is often the case, Curtis was reluctant to get involved with kids he didn't know. The games they play are confusing, they say things he doesn't understand and make jokes he doesn't get. He doesn't know how to get things going socially. Admittedly, it seems like a lot of effort, especially when he isn't quite sure how his quirks will be perceived. But he's capable of strong friendships and has a lot to offer the other kids.

At the camp, we got to see Curt make some major strides in friend making. When I saw who he was drawn too I interfered only once, at the lake, suggesting to a girl she dump a bucket of water on his head. She did it to her friend, Curt laughed and I figured it would break the ice. Plus, the girls looked about 10-12 which was perfect for Curtis. He generally does much better with kids that are a little older than him or a little younger. Believe it or not, some boys his age turn a crooked eye when he says he has a Smurfette doll or professes a love of Taylor Swift.

Throughout our week there he showed increasing independence. He wanted to hang with the other kids without us around and obliged sometimes, though usually remaining within earshot. He also felt comfortable enough on the campus this year to walk from the dining hall to the tent area on his own. That doesn't sound like much but it is for a kid so dependent on adult guidance. We let him play with the older girls while also trying to make sure he didn't wear out his welcome. He did great.

The night before we left I thanked a couple of the girls for being so great with him all week. I told them it isn't always easy for him socially to which I got two very different replies.

 Girl 1: "What IS autism?" As if she hadn't really noticed anything unusual about him at all.

Girl 2: "It's hard with him sometimes. He paces all the time when he's talking and he laughs on and on about things and won't let anything go."

Either reaction is expected. Different temperaments and people handle autism differently. As usual, we're just proud of him for taking the social challenges head on.