good evening all!

i have new progress to report with sir dantes. he is finally wanting to color! in a coloring book!!! this is just fantastic news.

it may seem like a small thing to most people. after all, most children start wanting to color at a very young age, well before the age of three, and they will color on anything from paper to floors to walls. i can remember with ms. maxie the frustration of telling her over and over to only color on the paper. well, with sir dantes i just have been frustrated over the thought he'd never be interested in coloring.

Follow up:

if you think about it, coloring is one of the foundations of communication. the fun of coloring introduces the idea of using a writing utensil to convey ideas. scribbling with a crayon leads to coloring inside the lines in a coloring book, which leads to using that crayon in the learning of lessons: mazes, matching, spelling, and so on. it is not hard to find a disney coloring book that also teaches pre-school lessons. of course, the crayon later is replaced by a pencil for spelling and math activities. but, the crayon is also still important for the continued interest in the arts.

well, ms. maxie loved crayons from the moment i gave her some around the age of 10 or 11 months. she scribbled on everything and by the time she was two she was creating mini-masterpieces and was so prolific. she has created so many creations, that i have had to shred some when she was asleep! she has been able to write her letters and her name since she was three!

so imagine my frustration and dashing hopes when every time i gave sir dantes a crayon he tried to eat it. and this has happened recently. for the past couple of years i have given him crayons, paper, and coloring books. i have shown him over and over how to use them, but he still showed no interest. if he didn't learn to color then he may never learn to write. then, he may never learn to read. how many times i wished that i could be frustrated that he colored on the wall or anywhere else. we tried chalk also, but the same reaction was given.

a few days ago, on my way home from work, i stopped by the dollar store and while there i decided to pick up ms. maxie a few new "learning" coloring books. for several moments i stared at them while i debated of whether or not to get one for sir dantes as well. i ended up buying them both two each. i knew they wouldn't go to waste. but, to my surprise, sir dantes wanted to color. he ran to his sister's room and grabbed her box of crayons, opened a book and started to color. he only wanted blue; but that is okay. tonight he grabbed the books again and this time a blue and a brown crayon! he scribbled all over (he even scribbled the bear brown). i am so happy!

remember all, autism is a developmental delay. i tend to forget this at times when things do not progress as quickly as i'd like. but, being a little late is better than not showing up!