Dry

I'd never seen him dry himself so thoroughly before. For the longest time, he had been merely going through the motions, needing constant promptings not to miss out this and that area. He didn't seem to realise that parts of his body remained wet. In fact, he didn't seem to understand the purpose of drying after shower. Then yesterday, the miracle happened - I saw him consciously rubbing himself dry. He even bent over to wipe his feet (not part of routine) with the bath towel.

- 28 Oct 2018
Breakthrough at 13

Mei Mei

Calder: Mei Mei. Mei Mei.

(No response because the sister was absorbed in her Korean variety show Running Man.)

Calder: Ethel. Ethel.
Ethel: Yes, Calder?
Calder: Play wordsearch.

Once again, he's narrating what he's doing (a recent habit). What's precious in this scenario is that he called his sister to attention, and actually used her name (first time).

Life is exciting when an autistic child shows progress.

13 Oct 2018
Calder at 13.

Drop

Calder has started speaking more these two weeks, narrating his own movements ("Run!" "Sit on the floor" etc.) and sharing his observations ("taxi is brown"). He has also turned attention-seeking, coming to us to report all sorts of ailments with the phrase "gok gok". He asked for "eye drop", then "nose drop" (has he ever used nose drop, I wonder), then "ear drop". When he said "hand drop", I realised to my amusement that he thinks "drop" will solve any discomfort.

13 Oct 2018

Breakthroughs

Yesterday morning, Calder came out of his bedroom and said to me, "Hungry." At the bowling alley today, he tapped me on my back. I looked up at the scoreboard (I had been busy marking his sister's Science revision paper) and realised he wanted me to know he had done well - knocked down 7 pins. Such spontaneity was unprecedented and I am looking forward to more surprises.

Breakthroughs at 13
- 9 Oct 2018