He didn't speak till he was four. He was obsessed with water play and Thomas the train. He almost never wore clothes until he was school age. And to encourage that I explained why he'd have to wear them and we practiced the entire summer before school began. For the first two years of school there were many mornings where I would drive around the school's block, "only one time" until he felt comfortable joining his peers. He would growl and bark if you walked into the bathroom when he was using the toilet. His heart broke if he heard a hint of unkindness--toward himself or others-- in your voice, and the hurt on his face was all consuming. He walked on his toes and sucked on his fingers while poking the top of his lip (which he would always find a way to make sticky!) with the index finger of his free hand.
He didn't have a label, he was Shay. And now, when he says certain things or does certain things or imagines certain things, we all say, "That is such a Shay thing!"
So when he goes to school wearing the exact same clothes everyday, or stays up all night filling and labeling boxes with 'random cool things' he finds in the bottom of drawers and backs of closets, or refuses to get a haircut because he has a joke in his head he wants to show us that requires long hair, we all (including him!) smile and love that we are lucky enough to be surrounded by so many Shay things!!
So many spectacular Shay things!
Hugs, smiles, and love!!
Autism Answers with Tsara Shelton
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| Me and my darling Shay... back when he was still only fifteen! tee hee!! |
Enjoy this video of Shay, dancing in the living room!!! Feel free to dance with us as we celebrate his sixteenth birthday!!! xoxo
