different but okay

I have three amazing updates to share.

First, Hayden earned another Random Act of Kindness Award for helping a classmate in the special ed room :)

Yeah. He's awesome.

The second one needs a little bit of explanation but here goes...

So, in our world many things are a measure of progress, including scribble. Which is exactly what the picture below probably looks like to most people. However on February 25th Hayden wrote the first three letters of his name, for the very first time. Although they do not appear to be in the correct order on the page, they actually ended up that way simply because he fit them wherever there was room. But he did appropriately write the "H" first & then the "a" & then the "y".

You have to see through some extra marks but if you look at the picture without staring too intently... notice the "H" is to the far right (it's sort of crooked)... the "a" is near the center (looks like a lowercase "e" in script, but he drew the round part & then deliberately added a line to the right of the circle)... & the "y" is on the left:

Here they are separated out, in the correct order:

That is hands-down the most amazing thing I have seen in a long time. Difficult for me to express my pride in words.

Third... (I have saved the best update for last...)

During today's progress meeting at school the teacher mentioned that one day just a couple of weeks ago, a buddy at school brought H something from another classroom. One of the aides or the teacher who was with Hayden at the time said, "Why don't you invite (the buddy) to see your classroom?"

Hayden is with Gen Ed peers too, but the context here was that he was walking back into the Special Ed room.

Well, as Hayden & his buddy entered the classroom H said very matter-of-fact (apparently):
"Things are a little different in here."

The other child was more than fine with this, which is wonderfully amazing in itself, but what I'm talking about is the amount of incredibleness that is squished into that single statement...

"Things are a little different in here"

... not to mention the maturity & appropriateness of what Hayden said... & the timing... & the fact that he is becoming self-aware enough to notice this... & most importantly... that he just wanted to help the other student understand.

I don't mind admitting that hearing this was the first time I nearly cried at a progress meeting. Welling eyes further encouraged by learning that Hayden's schedule is once again being refined, to increase his participation in the Gen Ed setting with same-age peers. Thanks to technology combined with Hayden's ever-improving speech, his academic progression is clearly evident. And socially I am beyond grateful for the kind, patient, & understanding kids... like his buddy who enjoyed the tour of Hayden's other classroom & is completely accepting of things being a little different in there.

Next week by the way is the National Fragile X Foundation's annual Advocacy Day. Constituents from around the country travel to Washington, DC & attend meetings with their Members of Congress. (I strongly encourage you to learn more.) Not that I ever need extra motivation to attend Advocacy Day to share our story with legislatures, along with many other awesome constituents from the fragile x community, but if I did... this not-so-little update on Hayden's progress would just about push me the rest of the way to Capitol Hill.

#awareness #understanding

Amen.


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