Our son, Walker Hendrick, is thirteen years old--and quite the personable young man. At thirteen, he seems to have it all: good looks ('course, we aren't prejudiced! LOL), skills as a (budding) baseball player, and the ability to do well in school; however, in unfamiliar or scary situations, our son will more than likely panic or throw a fit.

You see, our son, our beautiful son, has Asberger's syndrome, which is a mild form of autism. He is subject to times to where he'll "blank out" or go into his own little world, and/or he will wave his hands in front of his face as a way to reduce his anxiety. He is especially fascinated with video games or the Internet: he will spend hours in front of the tv or the computer; this is when he is happiest.

Now, we don't always understand the implications that autism/Asberger's brings, but we are more than willing to try. Our son looks perfectly healthy (never has been in the hospital excepting for when he was born), and he looks like he doesn't have anything wrong with him; however, he does have panic attacks, and he'll have times where he will zone out or wave his hands, as I've mentioned above.

Our son is in special classes at school because of his proneness to panic attacks or crying/yelling if frustrated. Otherwise, he is as normal as most kids his age: he loves watching sports on tv, the computer or vid games, eating us out of house and home, playing football or baseball with his pals, and writing stories/poetry. He also loves to draw; he is an incredible young artist; some of his drawings have been shown in local art gatherings, and he wants to be either a professional baseball player or freelance artist when he gets older.

Now, life is sometimes quite challenging with Walker (but then isn't it with anyone who has teenagers??), but we are proud of his accomplishments. He has a lot going for him; the future is indeed bright for our son!