Re: Re: AS kids have low IQ'S...yeah, right (Kathy)

December 29, 2001

Kathy,

I know that I take for granted when my NT kids do something that seems NT.

But, in every single accomplishment of Spencer's, no matter how small, I find

great joy. I took Spencer to the video store today for the first time. He ran

to the kids' section and immediately hit the floor (on top of the hopscocth

shaped floor mat with numbers) and started pointing to the numbers for me to

name them-until we got to 8 and 9, which he named himself. If his twin walked

in, she would point to the numbers and name them herself, because that is a

NT thing to do, but I am finding Spencer is a lot closer than I have given

him credit for. He then walked over to the kids' movies and pulled Toy Story

2 from the shelf and brought it to me. We watched it on our new DVD player

last night for the first time. It was the first time he had ever seen the

movie, Buzz Lightyear, or any other of the characters, as I am very selective

about what the kids watch. So, he not only remembered what he had seen last

night (though he didn't seen to really be watching the movie), he was looking

at the video boxes and chose to bring that one to me-over Pooh Bear or Barney

or any of the other characters he also recognized. So, it is all going in. Up

until recently, it just wasn't coming back out, so the NT world doesn't have

any indication that it's going in. He also began doing his ABC's this morning

in response to a cereal bowl I gave him that had the alphabet printed around

the perimeter. He saw it and just " woke up " to them and started pointing and

grunting/babbling sounds that simulated the letters. We're getting there and

I know all of the other kids are, too. It's just finding the right " formula "

of therapies, supplements, and treatments that work for the individual child

effected with these issues. If we've ever questioned our capacity for

perserverence, understanding, patience, and learning, this experience as a

parent of a non-NT kid and the interaction on this board should tell us that

we really can do anything we set our minds to. We all have or know doctors

who spent thousands of dollars and many years in school and can't do what we

are all doing with limited resources and little or no education except what

we research on our own in our " off " hours...with our motivation not being our

careers or profiles, but the love of our children. There's a reason they call

it " practicing " medicine.

Amber

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