From Conor's Dad:

Our fourth (4th) son Conor, just eight (8) years old this past October, attends the Ascent School for Autism on Long Island, and in the short time he has been there, Conor's miraculous progress has given our family hope and confidence where at one time there was little or none.  

On his second birthday, Conor was diagnosed with autism, and at that time Conor did not point, speak, play, look you in the eye or have virtually any interaction with our family and others around him.  Today, with the help of Ascent and its great therapists-not to mention my wife Joy, Conor's brothers Sean, Ryan and Kyle and his after school home therapists-he now speaks, plays with the family and most of all is an integral part of our everyday life. He speaks beautifully, “surfs” and plays games on the internet, goes to the playground, rides a bicycle, has mastered Gameboy, plays with his brothers, reads beyond grade level and more incredibly, beginning in November of 2007, with an Ascent aide at his side, Conor will be attending the same elementary school our 3 older sons graduated from on a full time basis!

Ascent has also helped Conor with some of his other behavioral skills, enabling him to come with us wherever we go, including an recent trip overseas.  Remarkably, it wasn't that long ago we could even consider taking Conor with us to run simple errands.   

Although Conor has autism and on a daily basis will continue to face challenges we wish were not before him, the adjective to best describe him is HAPPY…a truly incredible feeling given the circumstances! Nonetheless, a long road lies ahead for Conor, but we are fully confident with the help of Ascent he can reach his full potential!