Adrian Zavala Santana was practically nonverbal when he turned three and aged out of state services that offer help when a child is developing slowly.
He could say just 20 words in Spanish, his mother says, and he didn’t know any English. Doctors wondered if he was on the autism spectrum. After ushering Adrian’s two older sisters into gifted classes, his parents weren’t sure their son would even be able to go to a mainstream public school as another year passed with little progress.
Now, Rocio Andino Santana says, her son has just begun full-day kindergarten. Adrian brings home packets of homework, finishes them, and asks for more.