He's Not a Chromosome Count

My son still amazes me when he does things I don't expect.

He loves to play on Starfall (www.starfall.com) and today I watched him choose a game about the body. Words were listed at the top of the screen. In the middle of the screen was a figure of a kid. Along the sides of the kid were spaces with arrows pointing to different body parts like head, arm, foot, hand, etc. I stood in amazement as my four-year-old, who doesn't speak much, matched words to body parts by clicking on the word at the top and dragging it to the correct space. Time and time again he did it correctly. As soon as he'd match one, he'd look at me and smile.  At the end of the game, the kid on the screen did a little dance so my son stood on his chair and shook his little bootie. So cute!

The more I see him do things like this, the more determined I am to make sure he doesn't get shoved into a "box" designed by well-meaning people who decide he'll only do certain things because he has an extra chromosome. He's an individual with talents just like everyone else. He may have challenges, but so what?

He needs to be evaluated as an individual, not as a chromosome count.