Going right to left: Dana, Alex and Krystel. Krystel is Alex's current paraprofessional/ABA teacher from IPP (Institute of Professional Practice) for his summer camp/extended year services. She's great and very sweet. And one in a line of teachers and professionals to whom I will be forever in debt. While one would never wish to end up having to navigate the often frustrating maze of special education because of having a child with a disability, I am absolutely floored at the caliber of people we have met along this journey. They just don't get the recognition they deserve. This is a difficult population to work with. They put up with a lot... kicking, screaming, biting, hitting... and that's just the parents. Kidding :). But to work with these kids takes an incredible amount of patience. They have a lot of trouble retaining information one day to the next so you have to repeat lessons over and over again and those are the breakdowns of the simplest skills we take for granted. They juggle crazy schedules, they don't get paid overtime and the pay is nowhere near where it should be. They have to negotiate stressful interactions with parents and administrators. Believe me, there is a high burn out rate in this teaching group. But you'll be hard pressed to find more dedicated educators, who genuinely love working with children, who see hope in the the faces of kids whom others would deem hopeless and take genuine joy at these children's successes... every little step forward. Because, knowing first hand how much effort goes into them, they know there's nothing "little" about those steps.