Mary, I'd be interested to learn about your baby sitter training process. For instance, so you have the sitter come over a few times with mom and dad in the house, just to get Austen used to a new face?

My hope is that times have changed; teachers have changed. Disability rights have certainly changed for the better. Is that so? Or am I decades behind? Someday, an excellent, caring teacher is going to change your son's life for the better. There's one for every one of us. I'd bet on it. They're out there!

One of the things that consistently gets my sister in trouble is not forewarning "outsiders" who are caring for her kids about my nephew's....shall we say, quirks. It can be a harrowing experience for them and more than once she's been told, "never again!" They thought he was just being a brat, when it really was a different sort of problem.

Maybe the sitter was just afraid that she'd lose it with him and that's a very good reason for her to distance herself. Less hurt on both sides in the long run, that way.

Good for you for talking to him about this problem and helping him to understand that the world isn't going to always be unconditionally accepting and also helping him to learn how to handle it differently.