"More than 10.2 million American children have special health care needs, and in the past decade studies have shown that number is on the rise. CNN iReport asked families with children with developmental and physical disabilities to share what their lives are like. Parents painted powerful portraits: of success amid struggle, of growth amid pain, and of the possibility of finding joy and creating new dreams."

From the office of the child advocate from the state of Connecticut, a very thoughtful, thorough review of this young man's life and death. http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf The group points out many of the failures along the way, including reluctance of the school system to accurately classify him in the autism spectrum when he was very young, and later not identifying and addressing his social and emotional deficits. They also highlight the lack of coordination between school, health and mental health providers, which allowed him to fall through the cracks in the system. Also it clearly shows the inappropriate use of homebound school as a means to avoid addressing problems, and the lack of transition from child to adult services and the problems caused when the school system graduated him early from high school, and no longer offered services. By his final year he was clearly isolated in his room, anorectic (6 feet tall and 112 lbs.), and his only forays outside of home were to spend hours dancing on the Dance Dance Revolution game at a local theatre, so he was not hidden away, many people saw his physical and behavioral deterioration on display in a public place. This may be a helpful teaching tool, not only as a case study that documents how untreated developmental disorder can evolve into severe psychopathology, but also as a lesson in the need to coordinate school, health and mental health services, and the potential risks when it is not done.