A couple of months ago, I attended a presentation by a pediatric psychologist. It covered everything from the major milestones in a child's development to the stages of grieving that parents typically go through when they find out that their child has a serious condition. Throughout the presentation, I desperately wished I had received that same information a decade or so earlier when my daughter was first diagnosed. What I particularly appreciated, was that a number of times, to underscore the fact that what she was explaining was to be taken as a guideline, not an absolute, the presenter said to always remember, that after all, "...development is a mystery."

I tried not to let it show that my eyes were welling up and I was starting to feel the tightness in my chest that is all too familiar to parents struggling to help their children with whatever challenges they may have. As I wrote in my book, despite all of the times I was told that my daughter could progress no further and what was now required on my part was a healthy dose of acceptance, I could never let go of the idea that no matter what, there was still a possibility for improvement—no matter how slight and no matter how imperceptible it may be to others. And, as it turns out, the cumulative effect of all those ever-so-slight improvements that I continued to strive for, has been that my daughter has exceeded all expectations.

The basic idea that development is a mysterious process that we can’t accurately predict is at the root of many of my choices as a parent over the last decade or so. Life is not linear, no one can know for sure what a particular outcome will be and so, development is indeed a mystery. To me, that all translates into a reason to always hold onto a little bit of hope and keep persevering, regardless of the context.