Sonny’s mum text me in the week telling me that Sonny had said his first full sentence, without being prompted.
It was, ‘I want toast please.’
Apparently he just bowled into the living room and just said it casually like it was no big deal.
What an absolute legend.
When I took him out this weekend (we went to Coram’s fields in Russell Square, which is a playground with climbing frames etc) he said loads of sentences like, ‘I want bus please’, ‘I want soft play please,’ and ‘I want go home please’. Though not entirely grammatically correct, true, in my book a sentence is a sentence.
Obviously my first instinct was to freak out, throw him in the air and scream, ‘OHMYGOD SONNY that is amazing you said a sentence you are so clever I am so proud, WWOOOOHOOO,’ etc, and then to break down in tears of pride. But I managed to reign it in and keep relatively calm and said, ‘oh good talking Sonny!’
Moments like that, when he does something new and unexpected, that myself and his family and teachers have all been working on, are the most precious moments, because it makes all the difficult times and struggles worthwhile.
That is one of the best things about Sonny. He always shocks me with new things he says and does, and it never fails to blow my mind.
It may not sound like a big achievement, but is a HUGE milestone in his development, it’s like the equivalent of someone learning to drive for 3 or 4 years and then nailing a three-point turn for the first time. I couldn’t imagine Sonny talking at all when I first started working with him…to be honest I was unsure weather he ever would. He was frustrated and angry a lot of the time, partly due to the fact he was unable to communicate his needs. But I could barely shut him up this weekend. It was quite frankly bloody brilliant.
Working with children with special needs, it can sometimes feel like you are fighting a losing battle, bound to not succeed, and then you see the child do something for the first time and it makes all your hard work worthwhile.
WELL DONE SONNY.
(Below: I think he has been spending too much time with me…His pout is starting to be better than mine.)
Aaaand finally, click here and here for some videos of Sonny busting a groove.
Sonny Days 