I remember when Ethan was two my mum asked me if Ethan knew where his eyes were, the answer was no.
I never really showed him stuff like this, I now know that this is because before then Ethan never really responded to questions we asked, and its human nature to back off when you are not getting the responses you expect.
At three it feels like something in Ethan switched on and he was ready to interact with us in this way. I also put this down to his time spent at nursery and the help he has had from our family support key worker.
My Mum and Dad take Ethan to nursery and, for the past few months, my mum has asked Ethan where his ears, eyes, nose and mouth are on the journey there. It has taken time, and lots and lots of repeating, but Ethan can now point to all of these features on his face and on our faces if asked.
We are now moving to hair, knees, hands, feet etc. It really does make a difference when your child gives you a response, any response, no matter how big or small. I’m not saying that Ethan didn’t give us any kind of feedback for the first three years of his life, he did, but now we have had this change in him you can really see a difference. A difference in both him and how we talk to him. We still have bad days, moments when Ethan just looks at you blankly and doesn’t respond to his name etc, but it’s all about those Small Steps, Amazing Achievements.
Well done for the family all working to support Ethan! He is a lucky boy to have that large support net work helping him make these amazing achievements.
I am linking up for the first time this week with my daughter L’s rolling. Thanks for hosting such a positive and celebratory link up.
Lovely to see you all working together!!! xx
Being able to open up communication for him and you is brilliant. Well done everyone xx
Oh that’s lovely. It must be so rewarding to see him come on like this and react with you.
I love playing this game with my daughter – so cute – though we often get our eyes poked 😉 You must be SO proud of your little man!
#SSAmazingAchievements
So lovely to hear this Jane. Well done Ethan! Fab news x
That’s great-Mini is the same with the body parts. She is slowly getting into them through music-“head, shoulders, knees and toes” is a big help!
Oh that is fantastic. Do you have visual aids for him?
We have just had some made at school to help our son.
That is brilliant – well done Ethan!
Ah, that’s so great to see how his learning’s coming on. Bet it’s lovely getting that feedback and being able to see how the hard work is helping him
It’s great to hear you and your families perseverance and how well he responds to that. They all have their good and bad days, I’m glad you can focus on the small steps as they really are amazing achievements!
That’s brilliant well done Ethan and it’s great to hear that you have such a great support network x
That’s great. Well done to Ethan! Fantastic that he gets to spend time interacting with your parents too 🙂
What a fantastic combined effort, well done to all of you x
That’s an amazing achievement, you must be so proud! Well done Ethan x