Hopeful

I have been feeling hopeful about Janey the last week. It's mostly her talking---it seems to be picking up in frequency. It's often not about anything in particular---a lot of it is still stories she tells to herself or random talk about Sonic or Sylvester or other characters she has never really seen but is interested in the sound of. But sometimes it's about slightly more concrete things, like more readily asking for what she wants to eat and more often picking up on what we say. Like tonight Tony said he was making pasta for dinner, and she perked right up and ran over to him and said "I want pasta!"

Also, today the after-school aide said she used the potty at school! That is the second time at school (vs. NEVER at home). She told Tony and I don't know all the details. I hope she asked to use it, that would be great to hear.

I've read a lot of places that autistic kids talking before age 5 is a very encouraging sign. I hope that's true in Janey's case.