dear nola,
Im a mother of a special child too. My only son is autisitic with no speech at all and he is already 8 yrs. old.He is a beautiful boy , very obedient and very affectionate. He has v. little academic skills but extremely independant.. Much as I would like him to interact with other kids ,and he wants to play with other children too but they avoid him since he has certain behavioural problems too. It does hurt me a lot when I see other children calling him names and making fun of him but he is so innocent he does not understand all this.. My heart just skips a beat when I think about his future .. I am helpless and depressed too. So dear nola, do not lose hope . We understand each others problems very well. We just have to put in our best and leave it to God to do the rest.