We first introduced you to five-year-old Jack Mayrer almost two years ago. At the time, his mother, Cathy, was learning on her own how to do intensive in-home therapy, which can help autistic children learn to communicate and control their behavior.

Well, what a difference two years makes.

This is Jack Mayrer almost two years ago. The jumping around and noises are common signs of autism. At the time, there was little help for Jack and other autistic children in Taylor County.

"I didn't know where to get help, I didn't know how to get help, nobody really knew a whole lot about autism and there was this child who was head-banging and throwing tantrums, and I didn't know what to do," says Cathy Mayrer, Jack's mom.

So Cathy took it upon herself to learn a type of in-home therapy that could, potentially, change Jack's life. She asked three local women to learn it along with her and eventually linked up with a therapy company for training.

Everyone around Jack has noticed. Intense therapy has made a huge difference in such a short time.

"He's talking spontaneously all the time. In fact, it's 'Careful what you wish for,'" says Cathy.

"He can read, he can write numbers, he can spell some words and he can do math pretty well," says Adam Mayrer, Jack's brother.

"He's reading at a first or second grade level now and he loves reading," says Liz Olson, one of Jack's therapists.

"And he's even silly. And that was something he wasn't able to do before. I don't know, it's really great to see," says Cherish Marthaler, Jack's former special education teacher.

Jack is also able to control his tantrums and is now potty-trained, a milestone for autistic kids.

Now, he's a budding kindergarten student. And from here on out, Jack's family is much more hopeful about his future.

"I didn't even realize that this was gonna, I thought he was just gonna be like this for the rest of his life," says Adam.

"He didn't ask for autism and I owe him an opportunity to at least give him what I can as a mom and as a family what we can give him for a better chance of a normal life," says Cathy.

Cathy gives a lot of credit to the therapists, teachers and aides who've worked with Jack. And like the family, they're so excited to see how he'll function in a normal classroom and what's in store for him in the coming years.

In Part 2, we'll look at what impact Jack has had on the lives of his teachers and therapists, and the bond the family has formed with all these different people.