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!