proof early intervention works

My youngest son who falls on the Autism spectrum has been receiving services since the age of 21 months. At that time he had no speech/language skills, spun, rocked, hummed, stared at spinning object, lined things up, no make believe, and had no interest in making friends, ect. Too show how far he has come let me relay what happened last night. He sat down beside me and started telling me that having friends was difficult. He said that he was having difficulty at school deciding which friend to play with. So now instead of not being interested his dilema is how do I choose what friend to play with. Then he went on to demonstrate what he meant. He placed a lightsaber on the floor a chair a few feet away, he then laid in the middle with his arms and legs stretched out. He said this is what it feels like, like I am being pulled apart. He also stated that sometimes kids are mean and that maybe they should open up a school to teach kids to be nice. He then went on to play “nice school.” He got a few of his stuffed animals sat them in seats and proceeded to teach them social skills. He placed 2 bandaides on the backs of the stuffies and if the stuffy acted not nice a bandaid was removed. If the stuffy lost both bandaides they had to eat a piece of broccali, if they kept them both they got to eat a hotdog. Now maybe for most 10 year olds this would be considered not a big deal and actually immature behavior but when you take into consideration where the child started this is a big deal. During this same time he used vocabulary correctly, drew pictures, and used expression when speaking. It was a very good night last night and I am postitive that his early intervention is paying off.