15 letters AND their sounds!!!

I tested Boo last week on his letters. I caught him in a rather cooperative mood and since he "wanted" to do school (there have been more and more moments like this lately PRAISE GOD!), I figured I'd see how much he's absorbed this year.

It turns out that my brilliant child has learned 15 letters and their sounds so far!!! When we started this school year, he only knew 7! He also didn't really know the sounds of the letters but guess what?? He is finally putting it all together!!! We've started a trial program using Headsprout
It's similar to Starfall but it seems to be a little more captivating for Boo so we're going to continue with the free trial and then decide if we want to purchase the whole deal.

I can't tell you how happy I am that Boo is progressing. I know it may seem like a small step forward but for us this is a huge leap in the right direction. Repetition, repetition, repetition! It is the mantra for learning in the FASD world! He needs to hear things over and over to absorb it. The conditions have to be just right. He won't learn/absorb if he's upset or anxious. He needs to be in a calm state with an eagerness to learn. Boo's brain doesn't just gather new info and store it. It takes him several times before it starts to sink in.

I realize most children are like this as well but this goes above and beyond your average neuro-typical child. To get Boo to a place where he's calm and relaxed is a great feat! His engine runs at 90 miles an hour from the second he wakes up til the second he crashes at night. There is no "down time" except when he's sleeping. Even then, he often tosses and turns, yells, kicks, etc in his sleep. Imagine your worst night's sleep, then waking up and being given 20 cups of coffee or soda (caffeine), now imagine going to work or school with that body. You're amped but you're tired. You're cranky and easily agitated but the expectations are that you will behave and you will do your job/schoolwork. Now imagine living that life every. single. day.
(Of course to make the above scenario fair, you'd have to imagine having brain damage that prevents you from learning easily, anxiety, a sense that people are out to get you and the inability to regulate your emotions, then you could have a sense of what Boo feels every day). It's not a pretty picture so the fact that he has 15 letters in his brain, is cause for celebration!
That's all for now..

Until next time....