Order of the Arrow accomplishment

I am one proud mama. My youngest son, Charles, came home Saturday from a Boy Scout winter camp with a big smile and a red arrow head. He told me that he was elected to be a member of "order of the arrow". He qualifed because he has obtained his first class rank and has had 15 capmouts. He is only 14, and is thrilled. This despite some rough goes.

He is a very friendly loving young man who is always wiling to help another person. He marches to the beat of a different drummer and that has created alot of prejudice amungst his peers and his leaders in the past. He was diagnosed with Autism pddnow about 2 1/2 years ago. We knew something was a bit different with him but he seemed failry "average" compared to the problems we had with Jimmy. We tried to get him assistance but to no avail until we moved from Oregon to Utah. Within 9 months of us moving here he was diagnosed. His 6th grade teacher immediatly recognized some red flags. When he eventually was diagnosed with Autism (pddnos) the treatmetn did not improve right away. Instead of blaming bad parenting for his odd behavior, they blamed him and tried to limit his contribution to the troop. He did not do alot with scouts for a while because of that. One of the things that sticks out in my mind is one Wednesday evening, the scouts had made plans to go visit the police station. I had arranged with the scout master to pick up Charles and take him along. I spoke with him 15 minutes before it was time to verify he had planned on taking him. Charles went out on our orch and waited for him, he never came to get him. He was not a happy camper, I called my oldest son who happened to be with the Bishop and so I told him what had happened and he had his councilor come pick up Jason and rushed him over to the station, unfortunatly, the tour was almost over, so he missed out. The saddest part is that he wants more than anything to become a detective. The gentlemethan rushed him over felt awful for him and so took him to have some ice cream. That was nice, but it wasn't as cool as touring a police station. Come to find out they had not wanted Charles to come because they didn't understand autism. They were afraid of it. It is not contagious you can not catch it by being near someone who has the disorder and you can't get it from touching them either. Despite this, after about a year, he got back into scouts with a new troop who has been a bit better with him. Thankfully, he has perceveired and though many people aren't sure how to act around him, they quickly find out he is quirky but he is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, etc... and is a boy who wants to participate just like everyone else does. So I am very pleased that he has stuck to it and has accomplished being elected by his peers to join the Order of the Arrow. !!