First off, I would like to thank God for giving me the ability to conquer such an incredible feat. Through it all, He has been my strength, my support, my guidance, my push, my rock...my everything. Also, I would like to thank Drew, my boyfriend who has given me three and a half wonderful years of unconditional love and support in all that I set out to do. I want to thank him for his patience and his help, for giving up his computer games so that I could use his computer when I'm at his house for hours at a time, and for being understanding through it all.

I would like to thank Laura Thomas for providing me with some useful information about Speech-Language Pathologists and Autism. Also, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Autsim Training Center library here at Marshall University for providing me with a plethora of information that proved to be so very valuable.

I want to thank my group: Cheryl, Erin, and Rikki for all of their support and good advice throughout the semester. They proved to be wonderful people to work with and I love them all! Also, I would like to thank all of my classmates for the support and great ideas that we shared throughout the entire semester. I am so privileged to know such wonderfully brilliant and creative individuals. I only hope that they know how fantastic they really are. And Mrs. McComas...a teacher, a learner, a facilitator of thinking, and one beautiful person. She has been my mentor and there are no words to express the extent to which I look up to her. May God bless her and fill her with the desire to keep educating and to keep making differences in the lives of her students.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank the McCoy's; John, Bev, and Mike, for being my inspirations for this project.

To John and Bev: what wonderful parents you are! Mike is truly blessed with such wonderful and caring parents who want nothing but the best for their child. Bev, thanks for all of your help in completeing this project and all of your willingness to share your plethora of knowledge. May God bless you and John throughout your lives. I love you both!

To Mike: I can't say enough about you. You truly are an inspiration to me. In working with you, I wanted to make a difference in your life, but as it turns out, you have made one in mine. May God always provide you with pink flowers and white lights, videos, hats, striped paper, cheese, the moon and stars at night, and "happy hugs". I love you kiddo, I will always remember your smile and the way you make me appreciate the smallest things in life. "Buhbuh" is so proud of you...

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