Such a beautiful little boy, a boy with thick, light-brown hair, big, brown eyes, a round, cherubic face, and such a serious expression.  He is the perfect child.

Never mind that Cooper has a form of autism:  other than his "zoning-out" spells from time to time, or his bouts of temper when things change or aren't familiar with him, he is still a good kid most of the time.  We see him as our son first and foremost; his autism is only a small part of who he is.

Cooper came to us three years ago from New Jersey; the family that had him before couldn't handle his outbursts; we were willing to give him any chance to succeed, so we took him in as our own.  It hasn't always been smooth sailing, but it appears that Cooper is the perfect addition to our family.

Cooper is the youngest member of our crazy, ragtag family.  He is six years old.  After Cooper comes Juniah, who is eight (she came to us from Nigeria, Africa, three years ago when she was five; Cooper was just three).  Then comes Frankee, ten, who is from Guatemala; she's been with us for a year and a half.  Lastly (but never least) is Gordon, thirteen, who came to us from Vietnam (we have had him the longest:  Gordon came to us five years ago; he was then eight).

Like Coop, Juniah, Frankee, and Gordon all have special needs.  Juniah is blind and relies on a cane for mobility (she does very well).  Frankee has Down syndrome and goes to a special school for children with mental disabilities; she does very well in all her classes.  As for Gordon, he was burned over 70% of his body and now carries many scars, but other than that, he is perfectly healthy.  He was burned in a grass fire when he was only a baby back in Vietnam.

My husband and I both work as teachers; when not at home, my dad watches the kids, but we have the entire weekend together.  On weekends, we do chores together, and then we treat the children to a movie, or a trip to the video game store, if they have been good.  If they've misbehaved, then we don't take them anywhere until they learn to mind and follow the rules.  It's that simple, and it works.

At first, when Coop joined our family, there were many reservations, but he's settled in quite well; he's now just "one of the family".  We found him to be a bright boy with a love for all things baseball or dinosaurs; as long as he's playing baseball or playing with his prehistoric friends, then he's happy and content.  We are too because then we don't have to worry about him exploding on us when we least expect it.  We try to keep Cooper's routine as familiar as possible, or there will more than likely be problems, serious problems.

Well, I have to run:  have to get the kiddies up for school, and get their breakfast ready as well.  I also have to get Grady up and get ready for our teaching jobs at the high school.  Until later, this is Ellen Whitehorse saying so long and God bless; I hope you enjoyed getting to know our family.  I will write more later on, at another time. 

~Ellen in Bozeman, Montana.  :)