Will's Strengths

Hello! Today I'm going to write a positive post... with likely tons of exclamation points!!!!!!!!! My dad said my blog was a little depressing and another friend said she made sure to grab the tissues before settling down to read it. I am sorry for being so negative. It feels good to talk about all that stuff, though, as it is in my mind and sometimes I look at our situation as a real tragedy. This is no tragedy, though. This is a good life and we have it better than many people of the world. I really don't know true suffering compared to some. This is a truth in my life that I always hold on to. I know we have it good. If you know me in person, you know that I always try to keep things upbeat. I don't like to rock the boat much and enjoy laughing and making people feel good. Sometimes the negative feelings get buried inside and I think it has been really helpful to write those feelings out and now I can go back to them whenever I feel the need.

So let me tell you about some of the incredible things about Will!

Laughter and smiling: My very most favorite thing about Will is his ability to find humor in the smallest things. I can say a phrase in a certain way, like "THIS little piggy..." and he cracks up. Will has no filter on his feelings and emotions like the majority of us do and when he is happy, you know it's an undeniable, genuine happiness. Along with his laughter comes his amazing smile. He has a bright-eyed, super sunshiny smile. I love it.

Will laughing with Grandma

Ball Skills: Will has a really good attention span when it comes to doing things he enjoys. This kid probably spends 60% of his awake time playing with bouncy balls of all shapes and sizes. He will play with a ball alone or with other people. He is extremely motivated by balls! You should see him catch a ball. It is amazing. I will try to get a good video of him doing it. He also likes to sit down with a small bouncy ball and listen to it hit the ground with the different ways he drops it. He turns his ear towards the ball and concentrates on the sound. I know I kind of put down the doctor in a previous post who told me to get Will into the Special Olympics, but if he continues on with his amazing ball work, I am really thinking about getting him involved with them. He could be an Olympian! I can see it now.

USA! USA!

Easily Entertained: Another great thing about Will is that he is rather easily entertained. If we are in a safe kind of environment and one that he feels comfortable in, like a house, the park, or someone's backyard, he is usually a really good boy. I really feel blessed that Will can entertain himself so well. It lets me relax and enjoy the company of friends and family more. It is a different story at home, however. We spend so much time here and I think he gets bored or worried I'm going away if I am moving about the house trying to get things done. But if you were ever to invite us over to your house, Will would probably be an angel and enjoy climbing your stairs, opening your doors, bouncing your balls, and playing in your yard. He also doesn't mess with people's breakable things. It is really nice.

"The way this sand falls is fascinating."

"This water feels good."

"This metal is fun to stomp on and makes a great noise."

"These bubbles are supreme!"

Intelligence: Remember how I told you the doctors down at Children's thought Will has an intellectual disability? Well, I want to dispute that claim right here. I think Will is much more intelligent than he is able to show. He doesn't understand or have particular interest in many things, but he is smart. For example, one day I opened the refrigerator and found a bar of soap where the sticks of butter are. I thought it was Colin playing a joke on me, but he denied it. Then I realized it was Will. He was playing in the bathroom and took a wrapped bar of soap out of the cabinet. He then took it to the kitchen and matched it up with the butter. Isn't that something? To me it was incredible that he made that association. A bar of soap is kind of similar to a cold stick of butter. I told some of his therapists this, but they didn't find this as profound as I did I guess. This to me is a sign of intelligence.

Another example is Will will sometimes take a frying pan out of the cupboard and set it up on the stove top right where we normally cook. He will take a spoon out from the drawer and add it to the pan. He is really observing things more than is apparent at first.

Will is really starting to understand language a lot more than ever. He is definitely delayed in this category, but in the last 6 months he is starting to understand things more. I can ask him "would you like pancakes?" and he gets so excited and leads me to the kitchen to make his favorite food. I tell him, let's put on your shoes and he stops and lifts his feet and lets me put his shoes on. We can tell Will that we are getting ready to go somewhere and that he needs to get into the car, and he runs right for the door and heads outside.

Will doesn't watch TV or play video games. I mean, he is only 3; but still, TV has never interested him (other than one particular music DVD I played at least a couple hundred times for him... it was nice while it lasted)! I said to Mick the other day how I feel Will is probably going to be more well-rounded and experienced than Colin due to the fact that he has very little interest in electronics. He is learning so much through his environment. It would be really nice for a break if I could sit him down to watch a little TV, especially some of the Signing Times videos, but so far that's not happening. I'm okay with that.

Animal Love: Will loves our pets. He particularly likes our dog Lucy. When he is feeling like cuddling, he will cuddle right up with her and suck his thumb. She doesn't mind. I want to get Will a service dog someday if I can figure out how to go about that. I love animals too and am happy he likes ours so much.

Will also loves our new kitty, Ricola

People Love: Will loves his peeps. He particularly adores his dad and his grandpas. He is also starting to like his grandmas and my sister more too. The more time we spend with certain people, the more Will is comfortable with them. He has a tendency to like men more than woman, although I am the number one person in his life. Maybe I am enough as I am the ultimate woman! Ha ha. Just kidding. I'm just his mommy and I'm glad he loves me and trusts in me so much.

Mick reading to Will

Grandpa dancing with Will and Mason (my nephew)

Enjoyment of Praise: A particularly-nice thing that makes therapy a lot easier is that Will enjoys being praised for what he is doing. He loves when we (therapists included) clap for him after he accomplishes something. I hope this lasts for a long time as it is an easy thing to do and he is really motivated by it. He also likes to look for recognition after doing something. My friend was over the other day with her kids and Will went flying down the slide like a pro and he looked at her and waited for her to acknowledge what he had just done. He does this kind of thing all the time. It is really an endearing quality and I am told a good sign in his development.

There are many other examples I could get into, but I think I will save them for another post sometime. These are the main ones for now.

I am learning to work with Will more effectively and take him to do the things he enjoys rather than do things that upset him. I always end up pushing him a little farther than he is comfortable with, but I hope it makes a difference someday and doesn't have a negative effect. It isn't bad to push him, though. And I'll tell you, doing the things he loves does some days become tedious. Sometimes I just want to do something different and exciting! I mean, I don't particularly enjoy standing out in the hot sun watching Will go up and down the slide 40 times, but I stay there because he is happy and is working on his skills.