Therapy Rockstar

Yesterday I had a horrible migraine, so it was a freebie day for Caleb.  He didn't have to do any therapy that day - he could choose whichever activity he wanted.  He could even watch tv and play on his kindle at the same time.  He was so happy that I actually got about 2 hours of cuddle time, which is basically unheard of with Caleb.  It was wonderful.

Then today, Caleb was a rockstar in therapy.  We brought in some of his favorite foods for him to work with in OT.  He happily munched away on his snacks during food time and then was nonresistant during his therapy routines.  His therapist was blown away.  The plan is to keep working with these snacks and then eventually work in some of the foods he doesn't like because of taste or texture or whatever and get Caleb to eat them.  This how, hopefully, we will get Caleb to expand his palette.

Then, in speech therapy Caleb was calm, happy and focused.  Toward the end of the session, he imitated his therapist by clapping his hands after she did, which of course earned him tons of praise.  He was also good at putting his hands in her hands upon request and following through with directions.  Caleb's limbs with nice and loose instead of being stiff and resistant like he was in the past. 

The piece de resistance came when we were about to leave the Kaufman Center - Caleb was walking while holding my hand.  He was doing so well walking with me, I decided to see for how long Caleb could hold my hand.  Caleb was able to walk nicely next to me while holding my hand all the way to our car.  There was no resistance, no pulling, no sitting down.  It was incredible.  I nearly cried.

I told my husband about this, and he relayed to me a story where he wanted to go to Walgreen's, but he was with Caleb, and the idea of carrying him around the store the entire time seemed unbearable.  However, if Caleb were able to walk like a neurotypical, such a task wouldn't be an issue.

I, too, had a similar thought today.  I was watching Caleb through the one-way mirror, and it suddenly struck me that I was hoping that today my son might hold a toy hammer correctly.  Parents of neurotypical children don't have to worry about whether their child will ever talk.  They don't have to think about therapy and special gfcf diets.  They don't have to try and teach their kid over and over for months how to correctly hold and then swing a toy hammer.

It seems like such a different world, that of neurotypical children. 

I feel like right now, I wouldn't know what to do with a neurotypical child.  I am so used to Caleb's routines and his silence.

It is funny - when Caleb was a baby, all I could think was, "I can't wait to hear his voice and have him tell me what he wants."

Now, I understand Caleb's silence better than other neurotypical children's speech.