*****
I haven't written a lot about my Jake lately. I've been too busy drowning in my own bullshit. Sometimes curious people ask if Jake can "do things." You know, like Rain Man or the autistic man who can draw cityscapes after seeing a brief Ariel view of a city. I call them superpowers, and yes, he has quite a few of them, way too many to showcase here, but I will try.
***Warning: This is one of those posts that is too long and includes way too many pictures and/or videos, and took me weeks or months to put together. It probably won't be interesting to anybody but some Canadians that like us for some reason (and you know who you are). Family members who are waiting for a shout out should probably steer clear.***
And if you aren't into all of the artwork and photos, scroll to the bottom for a more traditional HALLELUJAH moment.
On to the fun stuff:
I'm not sure how many pictures of Jake's drawing and painting I have posted here on the blog (I get confused, because so much is posted real-time on facebook), but his drawing ability has honestly leveled out a little, and, as far as I know (and I know little, having very little to compare to) I *think* that his drawing is becoming more age-typical. Lately his focus is on letters and numbers. He has lost a lot of his interest in drawing and tends to simply write words, letters and numbers.
Many times, with children on the spectrum, there is a lot of concern when a child has advanced reading ability, whether or not they are actually comprehending the words, or simply regurgitating something that they have memorized. Yes, they can spell "C-A-T, cat" because they saw it on the television, but they don't make a connection between the word "cat" and the actual animal or drawn figure. With Jake, it has been proven over and over that this is not the case. He has drawn numerous figures himself after writing a word, so at least we know that his labeling ability expands to written nouns and the objects. Also, Jake can write words, sight-read them, and most recently (I just discovered) he can hear a word spelled and identify it.
I love taking videos of Jake and these interactions, especially because I always learn something or see something I didn't see before. At the beginning he finishes a word for me (what we were doing before I went to get the camera, but he wouldn't repeat it). Then, I begin to spell words for him. When I spell "D-O-G" he first says "clifford" (a dog cartoon character, of course), then he answers correctly, then says "Poo" (our old dog who died Christmas week). I didn't notice at the time, but watching the video I realize that he was giving me examples of dogs that he knew. He even quietly says "Poo a dog" or "Poo is a dog," and I don't even notice. It really makes me wonder what else he says that I don't notice.
Here is the video, he shows his knowledge of mostly 3 letters words, with a few four and even a couple of 5 letter words. He knows a TON, though getting him to answer consistently is still an issue:
His superpowers are amazing, and make for great conversation, but when I'm not in such an optimistic mood, I will call them "party tricks." I won't focus too much on that now, becuase he really is getting better at the things that he is deficient in such as social interaction, empathy, etc. He still has a very very long way to go. I didn't teach him ONE SINGLE THING that I am demonstrating here, not even the spelling. He simply learns that from TV and video games. The things that most children will struggle with come naturally to Jake. Learning to realize that he's hurt someone's feelings, or that making other people happy is important is something that he will have to be taught, and there are only a few people on the planet that really really good at teaching those things to a child.. and I'm afraid that I'm not one of them. The ones who do it professionally are usually regarded as kooks and/or they charge a lot of money to teach.
Jake has been taking pictures for quite a while. I've scattered pictures that he's taken through this post, and will simply list some below. I couldn't remember if any of these have made it to previous blog posts, and I apologize if they have. Also, if you're a friend on facebook, you've probably seen all of this as it happened.. sorry. Despite the fact that we invested a pretty penny into my "good" camera, after a few episodes of Jake sneaking off with it, I just can't deny him access to the camera. Often I find these pictures when I download some photos of bags for my store. Other times I give him the camera, when we are out in the woods, in the city, or in the backyard. His perspective is definitely interesting.
(all photos in this post were one hundred percent Jake's own.. with absolutely NO coaching.. sometimes we didn't even know he was taking them. Out of the house he was being supervised closely, but allowed to choose his own subject matter)
.JPG)
There are so many more nice pictures on my computer somewhere, but I am impatient. I will definitely be handing the camera over to Jake during our various outings this spring. I have insurance on the thing, and what could be more priceless than pictures taken by my son. It doesn't hurt that he actually knows how to frame pictures. I have already handed over my old terrible digital, and have contemplated getting him one of those children's cameras. Unfortunately, he is impatient like any other child (or me, when it comes to cameras) and I would rather risk my camera to get his perspective in good quality.
Yesterday Jake was running around with my camera, as usual. He had finished eating dinner and Steve had just returned home, so we were thankful that he was occupied while Steve and I ate. We did not know that the camera was on the moving picture video setting, so there were a stream of disjointed and few-second-long films on the camera. However, these two stood out as consecutive pieces... Maybe I should try to explain video to him a little more so that he can capture more funny episodes like this. Again, I thought he was just taking pictures:
(a note: he calls my bottle of nutritional yeast "cheese")
More superpowers to come.
Ok.. The Big Finish... and way TMI.....
Here is a video of Jake acting pretty much like a normal 4 year old. He found a pair of my very favorite hand-knitted socks (thanks Ariane) and liked how slippery they were. He called the floor "ice" and even referenced me by looking right at me (although I've found that sometimes the best way to look into my childrens' eyes is to look through a camera lense, because they look at the CAMERA, even though they both avoid eye contact). At the end of the video he answers two questions: "What is your name." and "How old are you." Two years worth of speech therapy, a point where he answered the first question for a couple of weeks followed by a loss of that skill... and now FINALLY, he answers it consistently.... I can now prove that he is my child if he throws a tantrum in an airport.
The last amazing feat has no pictures, and you will be glad of that, I'm sure. Potty training... such a subject with any new parents, quickly became something that Steve and I didn't talk about with other people. Jake never had any issue with being wet or soiled as an infant or toddler, that is, he wouldn't tell us if he was wet or dirty. He finally started telling us around the age of three and a half. When it became WAY past time for him to begin potty training, we tried to coax him to the potty. He was terrified, literally terrified of the toilet and even of his potty chair. Pressure to use the toilet only resulted in making matters worse, and, since we are human, frustration and scolding made things even worse than that. Jake went through a phase of feces smearing that I won't even give the details of. These sorts of things will make you feel pretty much like the worst parent in the world and I'll admit that even lied about it to my friends, saying that he'd stopped. Many typical children never exhibit these behaviors, and even if they do, its not a "behavior" and more of an accident or a temporary phase.
Jake did not find interest in the toilet until he was just four, when he started peeing in the potty. Once that was accomplished, he pretty much NEVER had another accident. Pee went in the potty.. GOT it.. check. ("Wapner at eight.") Poop was another story. Add into this scenario that we have a PEE trained child who will pee in the potty if he's in underwear, or in his diaper if he's in a pull-up.. and.. jeez, what to do?? In the past year we have went from no bowel control, including outings or school, to a terrific fear of sitting on ANY potty, including the kiddie toilet, to a child who could be bribed to sit on the potty if we gave him his I-touch (yeah yeah.. HIS I touch.. only to be played with ON the potty). I feel like I'm tempting fate by even bragging about this, but Jake has pooped on the potty (unprompted.. meaning I didn't threaten to freak out) for three days in a row. Please please PLEASE let this be similar to when he figured out that pee went in the potty. He is using the kiddie potty, and, because he is a creature of habit, he will often go and sit on the potty to play his I-touch.. which I am sure will be another struggle in the future, but it is progress.. sweet sweet progress. Considering the intense pressure that has been put on me, as a mother, by my family members since he was 2 years old to potty train.. I can finally say.. SEE! I did it.... maybe....
I'm not good at writing conclusions anymore, because, when it comes to my kids, there just isn't one. There's so much more to talk about, but I have to end somehow, so I will.
