Science Fair

I recently joined a Facebook group focusing on finding and reporting something we are each grateful for each day.

Today was a very easy find.

Over seven months ago I was terrified that my outgoing, energetic, talkative, persuasive, bright, and lovable boy might never talk more than a few words at a time.

I remember posting on Facebook how I missed Liam.

I remember crying to his speech therapist during one of our first visits when she said, "it's just so hard, because I can tell he wants to have a full conversation with me, but he just can't."

And then a few weeks ago he came home from school telling us he was going to do the science fair. He told us his idea (put one plant in the closet and the other in the sun and see what happens), asked Mike to buy two plants at the store, and gave them names.

I'll admit. I was nervous. Would the judges be made aware of his aphasia? Will he be able to explain his project on the morning of judging? Or will his words be hard to find that morning? He has been doing so well in regards to his language, but he still struggles at times. Should I make sure the judges know about his fine motor weakness caused by his stroke? And the aphasia?

I decided to just see what happens.

So we did the project. We learned that the plant in the closet didn't die, but the colors on the leaves and flowers were much lighter than the colors on the plant who got sunlight. We typed up what he dictated to us. We made the poster having him do as much as he could with his fine motor skills.

Then the morning of the science fair came and Liam was more than excited to line up with all the kids, leave me behind, and go wait by his poster for the judges.

I don't know what went on during those twenty minutes, but I do know that Liam was one of the last students to return and came skipping down the hallway with a huge grin on his face.

As soon as he saw me he said, "That was so much fun!" Of course it was, he had the undivided attention of two judges. (One of them happened to be his kindergarten teacher.)

He does still love to hold conversations. His confidence is back and today just proved it!