Yesterday we went to a new restaurant. One Jonah has never been to. He started to get stressed as soon as we pulled in. But as soon as I said, “Jojo! We’re getting “num-nums” he stopped “fussing” and his face lit up and he started putting his coat hood on (it was raining). He understood me. He was hungry and we were going to eat. Understanding what we are doing puts Jojo at ease.

And it works the other way too.

A year ago Jojo could only say one word. He didn’t do Pecs, or signing. It was all a guessing game as to what he wanted and we had many many meltdowns.

Over the past year, he has been developing tools to communicate through therapy and work here at home.

When Jojo is working hard to tell us something and finally knows that he is being understood, his face lights up and he giggles with glee.

Original Facebook Post.