It gets better......thoughts for 2025 Autism Awareness Day

“Daddy, I have breaking news!…”

My son Vaughn strides into our basement rec room, eyes gleaming with a confidence I once feared he might never find,  When I hear him say, “I have breaking news,” it’s typically something sports-related.

“Is it about Alex Bregman? I hear he’s joining the Red Sox…”

“Nope.”

“Is it Aaron Rodgers? Is he going to the Steelers?”

“Nope.”

“Well, what is it then?”

“Guess!” he says, wearing a too-confident grin—a gesture that conveys a sense of both playfulness and seriousness.

“Uhhhhh, I dunno.”

“I got in!”

“Wait! What?”

“I got in. I got into ---- university!”

For a moment, time slows to an halt. I see not just the excited young man in front of me, but the boy who once struggled in ways I wasn’t sure he could overcome. And now—this.

I bolt out of my chair and we jump up and down, holding hands, see-sawing our respective jumps.

“Are you serious? Are you serious? Are you serious?”

“Yes!!!!!!”

My elation over his acceptance lasts for three full days (the university shall remain nameless, as I do not want to imply any level of endorsement. Suffice to say, it was my dream for him to attend this particular university!) Is this real? Could this be the same boy who once had 80-decibel meltdowns in our living room when the Patriots lost? The same boy who had to be accompanied to public restrooms due to the sheer terror he experienced hearing the sound of a hand dryer? And now this? He will actually study biomedical engineering at my dream school.

The progress my son has made over the past few years is remarkable, even miraculous. He has his driver’s license, drives to school every day on his own, holds a part-time job at a chain restaurant, plays Unified Basketball—and now this? Getting into my favorite university?

If you’re a parent reading this and wondering if things will ever get easier—hold on. It gets better - in ways you can’t yet imagine.

I not only measure my son’s progress by these achievements (classic Dad brag), but also by how I embrace his utter uniqueness. How he still calls me Daddy, even though he is a high school senior. His love for “fun and stupid” adventures with Dad, which consist of exploring low-quality sports pubs all over the state of Rhode Island. His utter obsession with sports and sports statistics. If your child can’t calculate the Z scores of players on the Boston Celtics, you don’t know what you’re missing!

My guidance to any parent is this: Lean into what your child loves—it might just surprise you. My son has taught me so much about life, about living in the moment, about embracing all that you truly love, even beyond such every day normalcies as standard deviations, correlation coefficients, and Z scores.

One thing is certain: whenever he says "I have breaking news", I’ll be ready to jump for joy.