Jason "read" Daddy!!!

Note how I said Jason "read" Daddy, not "said" Daddy.
I am so proud of my boy!!!

Here is a video showing the moment. Thanks to Beth who was right there to capture it.

In the beginning of this video, I was just asking Jason to put the pictures next to the matching 2"x8" name cards....without much expectation he will do anything. In fact, right before this video, I was doing the same thing but with some flash cards with words and pictures from his "personal ABC" collection. It must be because of this "interesting" change that his "busy-hand syndrome" took over his cognitive space big time. He was preoccupied with fidgeting, mouthing and throwing the cards, and wasn't paying attention at all. I had to use the old trick (cheerio) but only got random results. So I thought I should revert to the 2"x8" cards and if he still doesn't pay attention, I will call it a day. What you see in the video was the first attempt after the switch back.
I must thank Aaron (our volunteer) for bringing back his attention because when he saw Aaron's picture, it's like he got recharged and said 哥哥 (meaning "brother") with excitement. Yet if you noticed, he was trying to place Aaron's picture to where the "Daddy" card was, so I was expecting a disappointment. This is when Jason suddenly said "Daddy" and got us all laughing in disbelief. Before I can calm myself down from the excitement, he said "c-oh-oh" (that's how he said cheerio). Apparently he was trying to remind us for his reward!! It was way too hilarious and we were laughing almost hysterically.

I must call this the most rewarding teaching experience I ever had with him. At one point, I was so frustrated with his lack of cognitive progress and his seemingly non-existent ability to "learn", that I was googling if there indeed is such a thing called "non-educable mental retardation". But the brightness in his eyes, and my innate stubbornness told me not to give up. I think I am beginning to see some light in his ever-puzzling development. Just like the quote from Sir Winston Churchill on my blog, despite all the hardship and frustrations, "this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb."