Eric Hollingsworth
©Karen and Greg Hollingsworth
Eric Hollingsworth - June 19, 2008)

Colchester, Connecticut - Eric Hollingsworth was just 2 years old when doctors told his parents his severe autism would prevent him from talking or ever going to school in a regular classroom.

"They painted a really grim picture," Eric's mother, Karen Hollingsworth said. "They told us to expect the Rain Man without any savant skills."

Fast forward 17 years, and Eric Hollingsworth, now 19, was finishing the last day of a food service class at Bacon Academy this week, sitting at a table with other students making baskets of scallion flowers and radish roses for a party for a retiring school board member.

"I'm a good student," Eric Hollingsworth said, breaking into a grin that is framed by deep dimples. "I'm kind of nervous. But I'm looking forward to getting out of high school. Otherwise, I'd be trapped in here forever, and I don't want to do that."

On Monday, he'll be graduating with the Class of 2008, a milestone his parents never thought he'd make. He is hoping to find a job in food service, something he has found he loved at the high school and through his work at a restaurant.

"It's something that everyone looks forward to and we were never sure it was going to happen," said his father, Greg Hollingsworth. "He has overcome a lot of things."

Eric has made the honor roll and is a member of the National Honor Society.

"We are very proud of him," Karen Hollingsworth said. "Our goal for Eric has always been for him to be a functioning member of society."

Early on, Eric's parents decided they would set goals for their son, far beyond the parameters his doctor had set.

In each grade, they worked with teachers and staff to make sure their son was achieving to his ability. They also worked with him at home on skills ranging from feeding himself yogurt to finishing school work.

"He had a lot of goals in his life, some we set, some he set for himself," Karen Hollingsworth said. And one of those goals has always been participating in the classroom.

"Eric's pretty neat," his instructor, chef Donna Kaik, said. "He loves food service so much."

As part of the class, students create menus, prepare food and set tables for school staff, who get a free catered meal once a week, compliments of the students.

"He knows how to make us all happy," said junior Meagan Dyer. "A lot of people like having him around."

Eric Hollingsworth is an expert on setting the tables and polishing the glasses and dishes to perfection, something he learned while working at Puffins Restaurant in Groton, Kaik said.

"The one part I don't like is cutting onions," he said.

He has also participated in track, indoor track and cross country during high school and helped persuade the board of education to spare the indoor track program during budget cuts in 2007.

At a school board meeting last year, he raised his hand and stood up before the packed room and spoke haltingly. "I think you should keep it. It helps me stay in shape," he told them.

The school board listened, and he was able to run indoor track his senior year.

"That's Eric," his mother said. "That is just an example of how he is every day."