As they flipped through the pages of this book, Nathan asked his volunteer to find a specific story or find a specific page. He also sang a song relevant to the story he was looking at. In so many ways, Nathan showed us that he can really comprehend this 6-in-1 story book!

Who would have thought we would get this far, this soon?

A year and a half ago, when we first started with our son-rise program, he had no intentional speech. All Nathan would do is get a book, flip the pages near his lips and feel the breeze it made. His son-rise volunteers would sit across him and join him. They would do this for hours, days and months. It was our way to connecting with Nathan, speaking his language first before asking him to speak our language. During those first few months, Nathan emerged with strong eye-contact, which paved way for more social skills like this.

We have a long way to go, but we’re certainly on the right path.

Loving our son-rise journey!