5...4...3...2...1!

Last week one of the most monumental things to happen in my teaching career occurred on a boring, typical afternoon.

J & I were sitting at a table doing one of his favourite activities. Hand over hand we write numbers on a sheet of paper, then he points at them while I count out loud. Once in awhile I pause before saying the number, he then shifts his gaze to make eye contact with me & I say the number. If I pause too long he sometimes puts his hand on my face & opens my mouth. So cute.

That day I felt like pushing things a bit so I was pausing a lot more than usual & for longer intervals. J (who recently turned 6) apparently got sick of waiting for me to say the numbers, so he said them instead!!!

This is a 6 yr old boy who has never in his life spoken in any way that could be construed as purposeful communication. He makes odd noises, hums, etc. but that's it.

He was pointing to the numbers starting at 10 counting down, when he got to 5 I stopped saying the numbers & he went "Fie...fo...wee...oo...un." as he pointed at each number. Then he kept doing it! He counted from 1 to 10 next. And kept going and going. I sat beside him with my hand over my mouth & tears running down my face. I waved my one EA over cuz I barely trusted myself to speak & she crouched behind him & listened to it too (so I wasn't hallucinating).

I seriously was crying & shaking for the rest of the afternoon. When I told his mom after school she was in complete shock. At first she didn't believe me (I don't blame her), then she was so excited.

Sadly, he hasn't done it again since, but we're still trying! The important thing is this is a monumental breakthrough. I have to remind myself that when he first signed "more" it took weeks & weeks of repetition before he would do it regularly, so I'm not giving up!

He WILL speak!! :D

*sigh*

Some days, I tell ya, some days I wonder if we've even made a dent!

Today is St. Patrick's Day so I sat down with the kids to paint shamrocks.

But first, to give them the context!

We sat at the table & I announced:

"Today is a very special day! Does anyone know what special day it is today?"

*pause*

One little guy pipes up, "Tree!"

*sigh*

Middle Names

I was chatting with a former fav student & his parents the other day. He's quite obsessed right now with knowing everyone's full name, how to spell it & all of your relatives & friends' names too. For a few minutes he bombarded me with:

"What's your name? What's your first name? What's your middle name? How you spell it? What's your mom name? What's your dad name? What's your huband name? What's your sister name?" on and on it went.

So I started asking him back,

"How do you spell your name?"

He spelt it.

"What's your middle name?"

"Johnathon."

"No, that's your brother's name? What's your middle name?" I asked again.

His dad piped in, "What does daddy call you when you don't listen?"

Expecting, I assume him to say his full name.

He thought for a moment, then declared, "Snotty bear!"

His mom laughed so hard she almost fell over.

Awesome.

Who Says You Can't Get Kids to Clean?

Who would have thought it, but we actually had ALL my kids (despite needs or diagnosis) happily engaged for many minutes in cleaning today. Yes, cleaning. Washing toys to be precise!

Now before you go & call Alberta Ed or Child Services to report child labour concerns, hear me out. ;)

Our wonderful OT brought in an activity to work on fine motor skills that, I will admit, did not think would be all that much of a hit. Being of the mind I'll try almost anything once, we gave it a shot though. What a success!

What do you need to have your children happily washing toys? Your very own mini-car wash!

Take several metal toy cars/trains/trucks, wet them, coat them in sand & let them partially dry. Place a bucket of soapy water, toothbrushes & small pieces of sponges on the table. (To contain the mess give each child a cookie sheet or plastic tray to work on).

Voila! Instant car-wash fun! And what fun they had! Every single kid loved it, my older kids must have washed those cars over & over again for at least 15 minutes.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna finish picking sand out from under my fingernails...