August 30, 2020

A few years ago, I wrote about Robert’s difficulties with learning those basic, little words that squeeze between other words connecting them to each other and to the space and time concepts that our brain tries to establish. I noticed then, that Robert grasped quickly the meaning of the word “reciprocal” but had difficulties with the word “instead”.  The matter of fact, I believe that it was during learning how to divide fractions, (telling him “multiply by reciprocal instead of dividing” and placing a reciprocal fraction and a multiplication sign on top of the division sign and the divisor) when Robert grasp the concept of “instead”.

Over the years we spent many hours practicing “on, off, under, below, next to, far, near, around, over, on the bottom, on the top, left, right, before, after, behind, in front” and many others. We practiced using many worksheets taken from books on following directions. We practiced during driving. “We are on the bridge”, “The canal is below“. We are under the bridge (I meant overpass). The red car is in front of us.  We pass the truck.  The track is behind us,”

We practiced while emptying a dishwasher. Although Robert knew where to put the silverware, plates. and cups, I, nonetheless, often and to his slight irritation, kept describing what he was doing. “Great, you put large plates on the top shelf.  You placed plastic containers on the bottom.” etc.

However, when  a couple of weeks ago, we returned to the easy (EASY?!) first pages from No-Glamour Following Direction, I realized that the little words remain the stumbling blocks on Robert’s path to more practical language. He had difficulties differentiating between, “Draw a circle on the picture” and “Draw a circle around the picture”. He had problems with “on” and “off” as they related to the pictures (He doesn’t have problems with turning something on or off.) He was unsure about top and bottom.  He hesitated with below and over.

And yet, despite his confusion in regards to those little words, he still  managed to complete thousands directions given to him over the years. He did that by using his brain and deciding what makes sense in a given environment and context .  I suspect that there is a part of his brain that does a lot of thinking WITHOUT language but through the vivid images of the world that surrounds him.

He has been learning language slowly, but for him it remains a second or a third mode of understanding,  He puts a lot of effort into learning. He learns for my benefit, for the benefits of people he loves, appreciates, and has contact with.  He learns it to better understand us.

He knows, and that often frustrates him a lot, that we are unable to learn from him.

I cannot see, what he sees.  I cannot understand what he knows. So, I have to teach him our ways of communicating, our language. This way he can try to translate his multidimensional pictures into linear trail of words.