Autism. Bright Eyes does Assembly. Oh yeah baby.

Last night we had a note home from school. "Bright Eyes needs to practice this - speaking loudly and clearly please." I had a closer look. It was a script for him to be one of the comperes for the school assembly today.

I nearly fell off my feet.

So we practiced it. I asked him what he might do if he felt nervous standing up there. I wondered aloud what he would do if anyone laughed. He came up with some good solutions, and seemed to feel confident about it.

And he was.

We turned up to assembly and he was standing in his place next to a little girl in his class, at the podium. He looked relaxed, poised and confident. All the way through, he didn't miss a beat. His voice was clear and loud, he knew what to say at which point, and he never lost his place - or his nerve.

The only time I had a little giggle to AP was in the song his class performed. We heard a very Bright Eyes-like droney voice-effect a few times in the chorus. The very amusing part about that was that his drone was on a note that was exactly in harmony with the rest of the song!

All in all, he did a fantastic job and he and the little girl he worked with got a clap from the principal and the whole school at the end of the assembly. At which point he put up his arms and pumped his fists and gave himself a cheer. 

Here he is getting ready to introduce himself... and here he is in action. (Sorry about the blurry iphone image...)