I wanted to eat breakfast and have a conversation with Owen. We slept a little later but we were up off and on all night so I guess it all washes out. He said good morning to me and then “let’s go potty time to go potty tablet tablet”. He focuses on the end result and then will repeat it. I think some of his repetitive behaviors and words are associated with the lack of his communication skills. To promote conversation I try to find things that work for him. Languages, my boy has mad language skills already and every day it seems like his words are growing. I knew that he would be more likely to talk with me at breakfast if I brought Siri into the mix. I asked Siri, “how do you say I want waffles and butter in French”. Owen’s smile lit up as Siri rambled off the words. I hadn’t used the word “please” when I was asking her so as soon as she finished he said please in French. I chuckled to myself, I’m teaching my boy manners in all the languages. I move on to German then Arabic and each time he said please in the different languages. I was thankful he sat with me answering my questions about the languages and saying the words as we went along. He asked me for help with one of his new apps. Instead of tapping the screen, you were supposed to adjust the entire tablet to move the character up the tree. He needed to hold it with both hands and shake it to move it. He wanted to use his fingers. He doesn’t have that concept down and there is a disconnect on how his hands move. He is only now starting to understand how to wave bye-bye to someone and he will still turn his hand towards himself, generally like what a toddler would do. By the end of the day he was understanding it a little more but he still wanted to use his fingers to jump the character upward. It’s amazing to watch him move his fingers across a screen but we are still working on the skill of counting to ten using his fingers. It will come, I have faith. Well, the answer to the question about toys and the rollercoaster is he knows what he likes and doesn't like. I got him a race car rollercoaster similar to the penguin one he requested. As soon as I turned it on he came running from the other room. “Turn it off”, he yelled. And kept yelling. I said do you like it and he replied, “nopedy nope”. The good news I know he can tell me what he doesn’t like and he is learning to tell me what he does like. Never give up. I often remind myself this is the little boy doctors told me might not talk and look at how he is doing now. Find your strength, push forward, and look for the hope of tomorrow. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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