straight As on the parental report card

The kids' school uses the Six Pillars of Character curriculum, and at the end of the year, they have a special Outstanding Character assembly, wherein one student is nominated from each class, and then one student is selected as the most outstanding for the elementary school, and one for the middle school.

DS1 was nominated as the student with the most outstanding character in his class. I was quite overcome when I found out (yesterday), and the kids were wondering what was wrong with me, that I would cry about something like this.

I explained to DD, this is a very big deal for an Asperger's kid to get. DS1 spent quite a lot of time sitting in the principal's office earlier in his school career, and he has come a long, long way since those days.

DS1 doesn't understand all the fuss. He read the recommendation his teacher had written for him and said, "I don't remember doing any of that stuff." That's just the reason he was nominated, though: he doesn't have to make a special effort to be kind, or respectful, that's just the way he is. (Of course he's also sometimes clueless or just in his own world, but that's to be expected, and apparently he doesn't do that very often at school.)

DH and I both attended the assembly, and it was great for him to meet some of the teachers and see DS1's moment in the spotlight, even if it made the poor boy a little uncomfortable. He endured it for our sakes.