Double Digits

I realized recently that the number of words that Rex can say now is in the double digits.  These are not words that he can verbally imitate only, but words that he uses purposefully, spontaneously and in correct context.  The biggest feats so far in my opinion are hi and bye as well as approximations for yes and no.

I understand that this may not mean anything to parents whose children's language development occurred naturally and effortlessly, but when, like us, you have been told that your child would never speak, every single word uttered is a miracle.

We also found out rather by accident that Rex knows quite a few shapes.  When his teachers started to test him in this area after our unexpected discovery, he could identify either receptively or by tacting a star ("gar"), heart ("har"), circle, diamond and oval ("ovah").  They then decided to probe if he knows any colors and Rex showed that he recognizes at least four different colors (but he may be red green blind based on some observations during sorting).  In March of this year during Rex's IEP meetings I suggested that we should write shape and color identification into his academic goals and was practically sneered at for thinking that Rex would be capable of acquiring such knowledge.  In your face, people, my kid may rock to the beat of his own drummer, but he still rocks!