adams milestones
I was just sitting here and thinking of the many milestones that my son has overcome in his life and wonder how many of us can say the same thing?
When he was two years old and diagnosed with Apraxia, the therapist told my husband and I not to expect to much out of him. He probably would never talk, would never be potty trained (God, can you imagine having to change diapers at 21?), He wouldn't be in a regular school, etc.
That day he went home, took off his diaper, used the toilet and never looked back. It was as if he was letting us all know, I may not be able to talk, but darn it, I can sure understand what everyone is saying about me and I'm going to prove you all wrong.
He had a speech therapist to teach him sign language and the spoken word and he would use his signing in class, but once home, he refused. Why not? He had an older brother that did his talking for him and knew what every grunt and groan meant. Then came the fateful day when the therapist told his brother if he didn't interpret for us, she would give him a sucker every time she came over.
I don't know at that time who was more frustrated, us or Adam, but his brother wasn't going to miss the chance at his sucker, so he would just roll his eyes and walk away when asked to help. Shortly after this began, Adam began to use his signing more often and began putting more words out.
Still, if he couldn't get his point across, he would either do it himself or throw a tantrum. Imagine waking up to the smell of fire in your house and to find a 3 year old on the counter in the kitchen making his own breakfast. Yep, a pan of water and an entire box of Chocolate Maypo cereal all over the stove. No fire, just burning Maypo. He was hungry and I think he felt he could take care of himself.
There was the time his therapist came over and told us she just saw a little boy riding a bike down the street, she thought he looked just like Adam, but since he couldn't possibly be riding a bicycle at 3 years old without training wheels with his condition. It was Adam and even funnier, the damn bike had a pedal missing and he rode it like a champ. He didn't know it was broke and more over, he didn't know he wasn't supposed to be riding it.
You see, with Adam, we didn't treat him like he was any different than the other children in our home. If he was good he got praised, if he was bad he got punished, if he acted out of line he got wrapped tightly in a blanket and rocked until he calmed down, he got an allowance for doing his chores, he went where we went.
The only difference was that he couldn't talk. One day I was out in the yard and one of the neighbor kids came by and asked why we moved from France. France I repeated. The young lad told me that Adams brothers told him the reason none of the neighbors could understand him was that we lived in France when Adam was born and all he could speak was French.
What a novel idea. To protect their brother from taunts, the kids came up with a plan that worked and the other kids thought it was great and worked hard to help teach him English. See, kids really are amazing and innovative.
Adam has always loved music, so when he could be in band, he took up drums. Within weeks, he had them mastered. At the age of 11 he was on an outing with his dad that is a big biker event and had a band. During a break Adam asked the band if he could practice with their drums. The drummer tossed him a set of sticks and said laughingly, 'sure kid, just don't break anything.'
Several minutes of his playing and the drummer got on stage and told the entire audience, I thought the kid was joking, but he can play. Adam got to play 2 songs with the band.
In high school band he was the Cymbals leader for 2 years running, but one year he and the drum leader didn't see eye to eye and Adam quit. No amount of talking to him would get him to go back. He was done and that was it. Now, he works diligently when he is home to teach the babies how to play the drums.
His first year of high school he made the Honor roll. We were so proud of him. His teachers all loved him and after that it went downhill. He had a teacher who told us he was a drug addict and I called a meeting between this teacher, the principal and his special education teachers. It was a long meeting and one where the principal decided to tell me she would have him removed from his classes. I told her fine, but since she was making this decision it must mean the school district had deep pockets because they were responsible for his education under federal guidelines and his transportation and if they kicked him out, I was going to make sure he went to the most exclusive private school I could find.
Of course she said I couldn't do that and his special education teachers told her, she had better think again, because not only could I but they would help me do it. Adam remained in school.
It took him 7 years to graduate from high school, but he did and did it on his own. His teachers were so impressed, they had a story of him printed up in the local paper.
There are so many stories I could tell, how Adam has had to adjust in our world and try to fit in and done such a great job. Ask me questions, I will tell you! Adam is a great kid!
When he was two years old and diagnosed with Apraxia, the therapist told my husband and I not to expect to much out of him. He probably would never talk, would never be potty trained (God, can you imagine having to change diapers at 21?), He wouldn't be in a regular school, etc.
That day he went home, took off his diaper, used the toilet and never looked back. It was as if he was letting us all know, I may not be able to talk, but darn it, I can sure understand what everyone is saying about me and I'm going to prove you all wrong.
He had a speech therapist to teach him sign language and the spoken word and he would use his signing in class, but once home, he refused. Why not? He had an older brother that did his talking for him and knew what every grunt and groan meant. Then came the fateful day when the therapist told his brother if he didn't interpret for us, she would give him a sucker every time she came over.
I don't know at that time who was more frustrated, us or Adam, but his brother wasn't going to miss the chance at his sucker, so he would just roll his eyes and walk away when asked to help. Shortly after this began, Adam began to use his signing more often and began putting more words out.
Still, if he couldn't get his point across, he would either do it himself or throw a tantrum. Imagine waking up to the smell of fire in your house and to find a 3 year old on the counter in the kitchen making his own breakfast. Yep, a pan of water and an entire box of Chocolate Maypo cereal all over the stove. No fire, just burning Maypo. He was hungry and I think he felt he could take care of himself.
There was the time his therapist came over and told us she just saw a little boy riding a bike down the street, she thought he looked just like Adam, but since he couldn't possibly be riding a bicycle at 3 years old without training wheels with his condition. It was Adam and even funnier, the damn bike had a pedal missing and he rode it like a champ. He didn't know it was broke and more over, he didn't know he wasn't supposed to be riding it.
You see, with Adam, we didn't treat him like he was any different than the other children in our home. If he was good he got praised, if he was bad he got punished, if he acted out of line he got wrapped tightly in a blanket and rocked until he calmed down, he got an allowance for doing his chores, he went where we went.
The only difference was that he couldn't talk. One day I was out in the yard and one of the neighbor kids came by and asked why we moved from France. France I repeated. The young lad told me that Adams brothers told him the reason none of the neighbors could understand him was that we lived in France when Adam was born and all he could speak was French.
What a novel idea. To protect their brother from taunts, the kids came up with a plan that worked and the other kids thought it was great and worked hard to help teach him English. See, kids really are amazing and innovative.
Adam has always loved music, so when he could be in band, he took up drums. Within weeks, he had them mastered. At the age of 11 he was on an outing with his dad that is a big biker event and had a band. During a break Adam asked the band if he could practice with their drums. The drummer tossed him a set of sticks and said laughingly, 'sure kid, just don't break anything.'
Several minutes of his playing and the drummer got on stage and told the entire audience, I thought the kid was joking, but he can play. Adam got to play 2 songs with the band.
In high school band he was the Cymbals leader for 2 years running, but one year he and the drum leader didn't see eye to eye and Adam quit. No amount of talking to him would get him to go back. He was done and that was it. Now, he works diligently when he is home to teach the babies how to play the drums.
His first year of high school he made the Honor roll. We were so proud of him. His teachers all loved him and after that it went downhill. He had a teacher who told us he was a drug addict and I called a meeting between this teacher, the principal and his special education teachers. It was a long meeting and one where the principal decided to tell me she would have him removed from his classes. I told her fine, but since she was making this decision it must mean the school district had deep pockets because they were responsible for his education under federal guidelines and his transportation and if they kicked him out, I was going to make sure he went to the most exclusive private school I could find.
Of course she said I couldn't do that and his special education teachers told her, she had better think again, because not only could I but they would help me do it. Adam remained in school.
It took him 7 years to graduate from high school, but he did and did it on his own. His teachers were so impressed, they had a story of him printed up in the local paper.
There are so many stories I could tell, how Adam has had to adjust in our world and try to fit in and done such a great job. Ask me questions, I will tell you! Adam is a great kid!
posted by Adams Mom at 10:49 PM
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