Very well done.

On Monday, my eldest son slapped me in the face. He's six years old. I don't mean he literally slapped me but rather, metaphorically. On Monday, he spoke his first word. And his second, third and so on up to his ninth. We went from zero words to nine. Anyone reading this is likely wondering why a six year old is only now speaking his first words. Simple, he's autistic. He has never spoken but always vocalized. He has a series of sounds and noises he makes that indicate desires or emotions. When he's upset he makes one noise, fear has another (he hates the vacuum) and happiness has many.

He takes the bus to school and it was bloody hot this week so my wife picked him up from school. She walked in the classroom and the teacher said, "You'll never guess what your son did." Uh oh, that's usually not a good opener. "He's using words." He saw my wife and walked over and said, "Hi." She called me and told me at work but I remained skeptical as I've heard this one before. Sounds that could be words and are often out of context. However, when I got home I was greated with "Hi." Sharp, precise and in proper context. We decided to experiment. I sat him on the couch and said, "Daddy". He started to giggle and then "Daddy!" we all applauded loudly and he loved it. Next was "Mom" with the same result. At this point, he's positively vibrating with excitement. We tried "apple", "Nanny" and "Papa" all with success. We said my other son's name which is polysylabic and while he couldn't say repeat it, he did give his brother a hug when we said his name. That too, is remarkable. He has behavioral problems and often resents the attention that his brothers get. Often he will try to push them away from me and dominate my time (or my wife's time).

I've not said anything until now as I was afraid it was a fluke. However, it's been four days now with no letup in sight. I have not cried with joy in a long time. I have no words for how proud of him I am, nor how monumental this is to us.