I want to be Stage 5!

Ever since we began doing dialogs with Aditya, it opened up a whole new world of possibilities for us.  Turns out, he is very open to listening to us, and very interested in talking about how he feels.

In one dialog, I suggested to him how he can actually "nudge" his mind to think how he actually wants to think... for example, he could nudge his mind to say "I love life" than say "I want to die",  or say "You will come back from office in the evening" instead of "You will come back after a month".  He seemed very open to trying this, and as soon as he tried, he found he could indeed "nudge" his mind:-)  We, of course, were elated to know he was so willing to examine his thoughts, and even change them.  We followed with huge celebrations as we truly appreciate the leap that he is taking with this!

Then one day, Aditya found me eating a piece of chocolate.  He even found me giving a tiny piece to his twin sister.  Very interested in finding out when he can have it, he asked me that same question.

I was not prepared for this moment.  But here it came, and instead of telling him "after 9 months" or something (because that's actually when we strongly believe he will get extremely close to "neuro typical") I blurted out: "when you have reached stage 5".

A: "What is stage 5?"

Me:  "It is the last stage of our program.  Do you know that we are doing the Son Rise program with you? "

A: "Yes"

Me: "Well, when we began this program you were more like in stage 2.  Now, you are in stage 4. But we are sure you are going to be in stage 5 very soon".

A: "What stage are you?"

Me: "I am stage 5. I wasn't always. I was in stage 1 when I was a baby."

A: "I want to be stage 5".

**** Cheers, Hugs, Hi-5's, Celebrations!!! *****

A: "After I am in stage 5 can I eat cocoa?"

Me: "Yes".

A: "Why?"

Me: "Cocoa is actually good for health except for some people it creates the noise.  That's why I don't want to give you cocoa right now. Cocoa won't help you move up to stage 5, and I know you want to be in stage 5. "

That chat was one of the most meaningful conversations I have ever had with A.

What's even better.... since that conversation... A is making a conscious attempt at "moving up to" stage 5!

He is "nudging" his mind and telling us proudly about it.  As a result we have fewer (actually, WAAAY fewer) instances of feeling clueless about what is going on in his mind when he says "I don't want to grow"    .... because more often than not he now "nudges" his mind and then says something more like: "I want to grow, but I am worried I am not growing quickly (enough to catch up with my twin sister)."