Jack-Jack is AMAZING!

Jack is just 5 years old and has "learning disabilities", for lack of a better term. I hate comparing him and try not to, but he is just not your typical 5yo boy. He has a genetic duplication that has caused delays, the most obvious being speech, so most everything has been a challenge for him.....well, if I were to push him to "keep up" with other kids his age, then it would be a challenge. I don't do that, I let him be himself.

The other day he wanted to draw. He has really been into drawing for about a year now, and I must say, he is pretty good at it! He amazes me with pictures of dinosaurs, choo-choo trains, airplanes, etc.....all the typical interests of a little boy.

He also likes to "draw" the letters of the alphabet! And I know for him it really is drawing, not writing, as with most kids his age. He doesn't draw numbers very often, but he likes them too.

So the other day, he wrote drew a "P" on the back of an envelope, then he asked me how to spell my name.

To my surprise, he drew every letter correctly! Then he asked how to spell Jonathan's name, and he did really well with that one too! So I got out a piece of paper (since he was really enjoying this) and had him draw the entire alphabet as I gave him one letter at a time. Then we did the numbers.

Mind you, he has had little to no formal training on how to write/draw, this is something he just enjoys and has picked up completely on his own. I guess he just has a knack for drawing!

You can see in the photo that I wrote some numbers on the side to help him know what they look like (mine are circled), and on the envelope, the "N" at the bottom left is also mine. Everything else is his. He started turning letters upside down in the 2nd half of the alphabet. I thought this was interesting since he ALWAYS "reads" books upside down. I don't know what that means though! I know his little brain just works differently, but is this a sign of a "problem" that can be corrected, or should it just be considered normal???  None of my other children have done this! I don't normally worry about it though, I just turn the book around for him and he happily continues to read. :)

So when he was drawing the alphabet the other day. I really tried not to interfere because I wanted to see how he drew them all on his own. I had to show him what a few of them looked like, but otherwise I didn't correct him when he drew one upside down or backwards. He did great! I'm proud of my little man! :)

Jack is about to start speech again this week, probably twice a week. We're hoping it helps, and I'm sure it will some, but we are also working more on sign language so that he can more easily communicate with us. He is getting frustrated when we can't understand him. His vocabulary is getting really big, but he still sounds like a 2-year-old. In fact, his 20-month-old brother sounds very much like him!

Jack-Jack is also about to start horse riding therapy! We are so excited about this, especially since they are only about a mile down the road from us! He still has weaker muscles than most kids his age and still often trips or falls. This therapy riding should strengthen his muscles and improve his balance, so I cannot wait to see how he likes it and how much it helps him!