Relief

It appears that I have neglected to check in on something that has been weighing upon us a little, namely some struggles Graham has been having recently in a couple of classes. He's had some crappy test grades, which gave him Bs in the first quarter.

Now you could genuinely object: "big freaking deal, Bs aren't such bad grades", and I would hear you if you did. But Graham is an exceptionally smart boy, and one who has some specific challenges associated with his autism. The social challenges are the biggest ones. He's got a friend, a really good kid, but one who is so popular I think he gets distracted from his classes, who is having much more profound academic challenges, but he's a kid who will always do fine because he is exceptionally personable and has some bonus good features on top of that.

Graham is also a very nice boy, but he doesn't have the same effortless social grace and charisma that will lift his friend's boat in stormy seas. Graham needs to work with what he's got, which is raw brainpower. And he needs to learn to appreciate, cultivate and channel it.

I will spare you all the specific details around his math class, some of the questionable characteristics of his teacher, etc. It's a long story. We had been waiting for a grade on a math test to come back for a few weeks now, longer than was reasonable, let's leave it at that. His grade came back, and it was OK, better than we feared. We'll take it and keep plugging.