Signs, Signs, Everywhere There's Signs

Good stuff has been happening at school.

I'm bracing myself for Ethan's week two or three realization that wait, this school thing is not going away for a long time and summer is definitely over but for now, so far so good.

There are good signs from his teachers: "I was standing near Ethan the other day and heard Ethan talking -- talking! -- to another kid," reported his special ed teacher. "I couldn't believe it!" I can, I wanted to answer, but what good would that do?

There are good signs from the classroom: They've put him straight into the integrated room without the first stop in the ABA room, and I'm not going to argue this at all. Let's see how it goes. They told me yesterday he was more chatty and enjoyed knocking down blocks with friends.

There are good signs from the playground: The other day the autism class came out with their paras and what did I see? Ethan tumbling down the slide after a little girl (we'll call her "O") who was there last year, laughing. They were actually kind of chasing each other. This girl is probably the most social of all the kids in the class and last year Ethan wanted little to do with her.

And I can't end this without mentioning the literal signs. Last year Ethan's big thing was calling out any breezeways we spotted on houses during the drive to and from school ("There's the tunnel! There's another tunnel!"). He now wants me to tell him what all the signs say.

All the signs, including ones with just symbols.

I never noticed how many signs there actually are on the two miles to and from school. Soon I'm going to start seeing them in my dreams.

Sometimes I fudge a little. I mean, is he really going to understand what "Merge Ahead" means? The interstate signs are "Highway that way." And the yellow sign on the electric box attached to a utility pole outside our house? The writing is so small I can't even see it. But I tell him, "It says "Do not touch or you will get a shock."

I hope I'm not a bad mamma. Someday he's going to actually learn to read and find out he's been duped.