We went to the Mall to exchange the ipod that Cheshire gave David for the ipod that David really wanted. I don't take Julia to malls often for two reasons, I hate shopping and really can't stand malls, and then there was a time when Julia's sensory issues made malls off limits. I haven't been working at extending Julia's mall time and she may always be mall challenged.
A Chinese dance troup is coming to Madison and a Chinese woman in a lovely costume was handing out flyers in the Mall. Julia and I went over to get one. Julia had a hard time looking at the woman -- an eye contact moment -- I want to figure out what I can do to make her more comfortable or able to deal with eye contact better. This is the second time -- the first was with Santa -- when a social situation that Julia wanted to enter into was made harder for her.
The woman noticed that Julia was Chinese and asked if she was from China. I told her, yes, and that she came to the US two years ago. The woman said something in Chinese to Julia. Julia piped up with her name and asked the woman hers. I asked if she had asked Julia her name and the woman nodded. Julia has lately developed a big interest in names (after two years of hardly noticing that anyone had a name) so the woman's question and Julia's answer may have been coincidental, but this is not the first time that Julia has shown some understanding of Chinese.
The woman touched Julia's cheek and said, 'lucky girl.' I've heard that before, of course, but it was very much sweeter this time.
2 comments:
Wow, do you think she understood? I never realized we had issues with eye contact here until I read to make sure she is actually looking into my eyes and not my forehead...etc.. Sure enough it appeared to be something other than my eyes.
Yeah, us too. We thought that eye contact was okay, not perfect, but pretty good. Then, I started really taking notice and the kid looks everywhere but in my eyes. We work on it now and hopefully AT will help us.
Now, did she understand? Who knows? Julia has lots of issues that get in her way but I have a great believe in her intelect. Maybe it is just a mom's wish that their child is smart, but I see how she draws and works with clay. I see how she works through issues herself all the time with her little pets and her dinosaurs. Maybe. Maybe.
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