Special needs family

[Atty Smith]

Upfront, we are posting her for two reasons: One to share our personal story so that it may help others. Two, a referral system.



We had hit rock bottom with our family. On June 3, 2002, our almost 17 year old son was on his first ever plane flight and headed to AIR. We love our son dearly and would gladly give our lives to save his. In this case, we made other sacrifices.

Our entire family has had tremendous growth towards being whole and healthy.

On our first couple off-ground visits with our son, we must admit they did not go completely well and left all of us feeling down, but after our third off ground visit, our son return to AIR walking on cloud 9 and told his family rep. that the visit was excellent. He said, "The best time he's had with us in 17 years." These words are music to our hearts. The hard work to get here was worth every bit of it.

Academically, at home, he had flunked out of 10th grade. Then he was almost 17 with a 9th grade education. He now has been working at his own pace, along with a teacher and passing tests like crazy with an 80% or better. Yes, I said 80%. Some people don't want to hear that, because their own kids are just barely getting by.

He has attended seminars to help him with teen accountability, self-esteem and keys to success. He has also helped to staff these seminars, once he has completed them, to help internalize what he has learned and help him with leadership skills. We have also attended the adult forms of these seminars. We have a large parent support group we attend that also has several graduated teens in it. Sometimes one of the teens will lead our support group.

He has had access to dental care, final hepatitis B shot, and professional counseling.


On one of our off-ground visits, our son stated that he notices the lack of responsibility in others. We feel our son is getting ready to be a valuable member of society, with more accountability than a lot of adults do. Maybe that scares some people.

Our son will be 18 in September 2003. He wants to stay at AIR and graduate from the school. He can move to his own apartment then, but he wants to come back home and live with us.

We believe in God. At home, our son would not attend church with us or read the bible. Since being at AIR, he has asked us to send his bible and he has read it and has had bible study and prayer with others. God has a plan for our family and God knows about our situation. We firmly believe that what is happening in our lives right now was instrumented by God and is a miracle.

Please visit
http://amysm.parentshelpingteens.com


Thank You,

David&Amy Smith