Turning things around

Today's photo is about pride. Being proud of one's own children is normal and quite boring for others to hear about. However, I think it's a little more acceptable when your child has been through a tough time and has subsequently amazed you with their ability to succeed despite past traumatic experiences.
At primary school, my son was bullied for a long time. Years. The school was in constant contact with us about his bad behaviour. He would run out of the classroom and it could take a long time to find him and calm him down. We struggled to recognise him and the school were keen for us to send him to a psychiatrist and get a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder. Only the psychiatrist didn't agree. We asked the school - who acknowledged he was being bullied - why the boy doing the bullying was not sent for psychiatric assessment. They said they had decided it was not necessary.
Our son lost interest in education and became enraged when asked to do homework. This was the same boy who was so intelligent and self-motivated a few years before. We didn't know if he would be expelled or if he could survive a 'normal' secondary school.
To cut a long story short, he is now in his second year of secondary school. His Dad was amazed when he attended Isaac's parent's evening last week. The teachers sang his praises. In some subjects they said he was the star of the class. And now it is not unusual to receive these postcards from the school - such as the one pictured. The reverse tells us he has achieved an excellent assessment in mathematics.
We are grateful and proud and never take the good days for granted.