Joshua's new school, and my Dad?

Joshua has had a really hard time with school ever since he's been in it. I always had a nagging feeling that the stern, military way that his teacher was acting was a big part of it. It turns out I was probably right.

Joshua is now going to the school he's actually supposed to be in for where we live now. There is a new teacher there, and she has had over 10 years experience with children with autism. She's really worked wonders with him. Before, he was not allowed near the other children much, mostly because he wouldn't deal with them like he should and was completely inappropriate and outrageous. Now he in the main part of the classroom, participating directly with a small class of other students and because of the teachers methods. He also has two classroom assistants that he gets along with very well. Overall, it's going MUCH more smoothly than ever before. And because Joshua is kept busy in school, when he gets home, he is acting much better as well. He went shopping with us at Walmart (which can sometimes be a disaster) and acting very well the entire time.

On another note, I've never met my father...ever. It's not a situation where it was his fault either, so no blame towards him. Just recently, my wife and I decided to hunt him down. We are almost completely sure that he is the right person, and we have been talking quite a bit for the last week on the phone. He's a very nice man, definitely. It was a little awkward at first, but it's slowly getting easier to talk to him. He had a stroke about 5 years ago, and at first did not remember anything about my mother. After my mom and I talked to him though, he starting remembering things, not only about her, but other things that he had forgotten as well.

His lawyer advised him to have our DNA tested, to confirm that he's my father, and of course I consented to it. As soon as the lawyer contacts me and has it set up, I guess we'll find out for sure. Either way, we are getting along well enough that he wants to keep in touch, even if he finds out he isn't my father. Pretty cool.

Oh! And I almost forgot. My wife and I did some investigating along with the police and figured out who maimed our poor old van. He was caught, with the part (which didn't even properly fit the van he was going to put it on!) and he was arrested and we now have the part back. We had it towed to the shop and finally have our old run down van back! It cost us around $240 to get the master cylinder put back on and new brake lines put in. NOT easy to save up to get a newer van when you keep having to spend money on a falling apart one, just to get around.

We've been fundraising for saving up for a new van, and keeping the other one patched up until we can. Gofundme only adds you to the directory where we can get more exposure if we raise $100. We are about $30 short of that, so any help would be very appreciated.

http://www.gofundme.com/HelpMcDowellVan