Disability and mental health services are *crucial* in remote communities like Naukati on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. Kids with autism learn and do better in smaller groups, and so should be able to stay in their small home communities.

Skylar receives services through Children’s Mental Health, and Senior & Disability Services. With a little support, he’s been doing a lot better in school.

He lives with his grandma Jeanette, who legally adopted him a few years ago.

“He’s smarter than he is able to communicate to people,” says Jeanette. “Before he started talking I always wondered what he was thinking.”

Skylar has ADHD as well, and is coping with challenges like writing legibly and things that involve different motor skills, like riding a bike. He’s always learning though.

“We see his inquisitiveness, his problem-solving ideas … even though he fixates on one thing for a while, then the next little bit he’s back to having his space encyclopedia open to something on galaxies,” says Jeanette. “He is one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met.”

Hear more stories at comconnections.org/stories.

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