Maxwell, my nephew, one of three boys born on October 15, 2002. Here he eats some of his first birthday cake. Friday he was diagnosed with autism. He's 18 months old now. He likes to walk around in circles staring at the ceiling. Or bend over and sort of stand on his head and feet or flap his arms. Because of his cousin's experience, his mom recognized something was wrong and got him checked out by a neurologist. (That was a battle in itself.) The doc says three hours a day, six days a week of "therapy" can really help him since he's still so young. But it's not covered by the state or apparently by their insurance? When he's three he'll be able to go to a state/township program--free. In the meantime his parents are encouraged to find sponsors, particularly corporate ones, to fund about 18 months of treatment. Pretty odd, if you ask me. Seems like the insurance company or the state ought to cover it before he gets worse. Early intervention can be effective.

My PotD was going to be this photo of a photo taken when the triplets were about one month old. But I thought this photo of Maxwell would work better.