Autistic Teen Beats The Odds

Students across the state have walked across the stage or soon will, celebrating the end of their high school careers. One Little Rock Hall High student's road to graduation meant beating the odds -- and a life-changing diagnosis.

At just two years of age, doctors were already writing off Alexander Myers.According to his mother, Veronica Tess, they said, "'It is ineveitable he will be institutionalized.' They say by the time he's in middle school, you won't be abale to let him live with you that the behaviors would have gotten that far out of wack. I was determined that would not be the case."

Instead of resigning to the diagnosis, the singer mother focuses on helping him learn how to function in society from counting his money to ordering his own food.
She's even walked side-by-side with him to school almost every day since kindergarten. "All of my time is consumed with autism and Alexander," she says.

On their journey, Alexander has become more independent and caring than his diagnosis implied was possible. After years of hard work, finally the moment they've been preparing for: Wednesday night, he graduated -- on time as a 17-year-old.

"He ran his hand down my face," Veronica says, "and asked me, 'Happy, happy, happy,' so that lets me know he knows something's going on." She admits their journey hasn't been easy, but seeing her son decked out in his cap and gown complete with medallions alongside his classmates makes every moment worth it.

"If there was one thing I wanted people to know about Alexander," she says, "or the situation with autism, the war with autism, is not to underestimate; set your expectations high and just be determined to be as consistent as possible and persistent in accomplishing that goal."

Though Alexander's now done with high school, he has by no means reached the end of his road. Veronica says she's preparing him for his next step in life: college courses.

Source: Arkansasmatters.com

It Wasn't All Bad

A teenager who found $2,000 and handed it to the authorities was rewarded for her honesty. When Ashley Donaldson, 15, found the money in a North Dallas parking lot earlier this year, police said it would be hers if no one claimed it within three months.

When the time came, she was told the city would keep the money after all. The resulting media outcry prompted an unnamed donor to reward Donaldson with $4,000. Then the city reconsidered, leaving the honest teen $6,000 better off.

Source: The Weekly Magazine

Neighbor Saves Family From Fire

ELK GROVE, Calif. -- Cosumnes River firefighters are crediting an Elk Grove neighbor who spotted a house fire on his way to work and helped the family get out safely.

The fire broke out on AmyJan Court in Elk Grove at 4 a.m. on Monday.

Fire officials said a man driving by called 911, woke up the family inside, and grabbed a water hose to try to put out the flames shooting out from the exterior of the home.

When firefighters arrived they were able to knock down the flames and prevented it from spreading inside.

A family of three people and two dogs were shaken but not hurt.

Jennifer Stanley said she and her parents are grateful to the neighbor who woke them up.

Source: KCRA.com

Louisiana Scouts Rescued From Arkansas Wilderness Area

A National Guard helicopter plucked six stranded Louisiana Boy Scouts from a southwest Arkansas forest Tuesday morning and delivered them safely to nervous parents waiting at a camp supply store nearby.

The boys and two adult leaders had been missing since Sunday, when rising water cut off their exit from the Albert Pike Recreation Area. Twenty people died in flash floods here last June 11, and the boys' parents had prayed and paced since arriving in the area Monday.

The helicopter crew spotted a campfire and some of the Scouts overnight Monday, then headed out again at first light.

"Our pilots had to wait on sunlight to be able to get in and land. We just got in and pulled them out," Maj. Chris Heathscott said in an email to The Associated Press.

The parents waited Monday night at a local church, in a scene eerily similar to one nearly a year before. Families, miles away from home, waited with pastor Graig Cowart for news on whether their loved ones had survived the rising water.

"These people are really hurting," he said. "They felt really alone and isolated."

Cowart led the families in prayer, calling out the names of the stranded boys and asking for their safety. Relatives joined hands.

Some cried. Some held each other. Cowart recited the last verse of the 27th Psalm, which says: "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

To read the full story, please visit: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/03/135948326/relatives-pray-for-6-scouts-missing-in-arkansas-forest

It happened in Miami

Helen Beard, a British tourist visiting Miami, who saw a screaming 1-year-old girl hanging from a fourth-floor hotel balcony, ran over, and caught her as she fell.

Source: The Week Magazine

It's Good To Know Another Language

Oh yeah, I saved a woman yesterday from a criminal and potential rapist in Hebrew! I overheard her saying that she is from Israel.

She was on a blind date with this street-thug at the Barnes and Noble I hang out at, and I couldn't help but overhear that he was a gangmember, been in jail, and lost his license due to drunk driving. I started speaking to her in Hebrew and warned her that he was a dangerous person and that he only wanted sex from her.
She hadn't understood a lot of the slang he was using, so she hadn't known how bad he was until I told her right in front of him!