Josiah's Journey

That boy is so flexible.

He can literally bend into a split position on the floor, and fall sleep.

How can that possibly be comfortable?

Josiah has very low tone.  So much so that he can put both feet up behind his head at the same time.

I've seen him do it.

It always amazes me that he is able to contort his body the way he does.

Lately, he has started something new.  He uses his feet to hold things.

He kicks off his shoes, then his socks and puts a string or beads or whatever happens to be fascinating him at the moment, in between his toes.

He lays on the floor and extends his leg up above his head.  His toes dangle the  'toy' so his hands are free to swing at it.

He does this for hours.

Well, not really hours, but for a whole lot longer than I could keep my foot elevated up over my head.

He seems to prefer this position.

Sometimes he contorts the other leg up under his body to prop up the elevated leg which looks to me to be rather painful.

Apparently, it's not.

This kid is never at a shortage for fun as long as there is something that can be dangled from above.

He seems particularly fond of cables and cords.  

Recently, I watched an interview with Temple Grandin.  She's a grown woman with Autism who has a brilliant mind and has done amazing things with her life.

She offers great insight into the minds of people with Autism.

As a child, she loved to sit and spin a loose metal plate attached to her bed.

Over and over, she would spin that little piece of metal and watch it rotate.

It was one of her favorite things to do.

The interviewer asked her if she remembered what she got from that type of activity.

She said she was actually making scientific predictions and calculations based on the speed at which she spun the metal plate.

Fascinating.

So, I watch Josiah with his string toys a little differently now.

He loves to spin whatever object dangles from the string and stare at it.

All along, I've just thought my child was engaging in self stimulating behavior which really should be limited.

I've felt badly knowing I should be engaging him in more educationally stimulating activities.

Not any more.

Josiah just may be discovering a scientific breakthrough that will impact humanity for all time.

That boy's Easter basket is going to be full of string toys.