More details about the tests

I kkow that some of you readers out there are in similar situation, with kids that experience different tyoes of difficulties. So for those of you it might be interesting with some details about the tests V did.
One is called Merrill-Palmer-Revised Scales of Development (MPR) and it is used to evaluate childrens level of development.
One of the parts of this test is called Color Matching and there V did great.

From the picture above you can tell that it hasn´t always been the case, but the last year, colors has been one of V´s strenghts. He has learned all the signs for our 7-10 most common colors and it is a important factor when V describes an object. It is a blue bus. A red car.

Then he did the Snijder OOmen Non-Verbal Intelligence Test (SON-R) and as a complement Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-III).

Here V struggled a great deal. His age were estimated more of a 2,5 or a 3 year old kid. Patterns and puzzels where very hard for him to understand or copy.


Me and my wife also filled in a large number of pages in a test called Vineland-II where we estimated Vs abilities.

From the answers we could give it was clear that one area that V really performs well is "Abilities around home" And as you can see from these early pictures, this has been something that V has taken an interest in from an early stage.

All in all the psycologists recommend that V is given great support to start activities and to make the world around him easier to understand. Pictures is a good way to help him out and makes the day more predictable. He needs an adapt pedagogy and a clear support from an adult all the time.

This is thus one piece of information in the great enigma of our little son. Now 5 years and 1 months old. He speaks about 10 words (hello, mama, daddy, blue, boat, no, yes, bye bye) and signs some 30-50 different signs.

Thorough investigation makes it official: V is mentaly retarded

A couple of days ago we recieved a not surprisingly yet somewhat discouraging notice.
After being tested several times with at least four different test types the psycologists agreed to put the diagnosis "Non Specific Mental Retardation".

The Non Specific part is based on the fact that V made some really great achievements on some of the tests, and then other results that were, well not so good. He also only speaks some 10 words or so, that makes it difficult to judge his language abilties.

He really scored good on the parts called "helping out at home and know his way around the home". I´ve already written about the great fact that he can make his own smoothie. He knows how to find the different parts of the mixer, he put´s them together and he brings a banana, some youghurt, orange juice and frozen berry fruits from the freezer and mixes them together. All by himself.

On that part of one of the tests V actually scored points as of an average 5 year and 4 months child. A brilliant result since he´s only 5 years old. But that was also the only really good result. The rest indicated a boy around 3 or 4 years of age.

This is one of the tests where V struggled.
"Fill in the missing square by choosing one of the four pictures down below:"

Patterns and numbers are hard for V. Colors are simple. But the psycologists suspects that he has problems with the perception of the eye. We havn´t been able to investigate his sight very deep, the doctors think his eyes work fine but there can be some problems with the information from the eyes to the brain. Some things might get lost in translation there.

So how did all this affect us as parents? Me, as a father?

Well. It was all in all quite predictable information. We knew about his strengths and his weaknesses. Now the question is - what´s the hen and what´s the egg? Is he good on colors because we play the same game every night where we collect "balloons" in different colors? Or is it because he is good on colors that he likes the game so much?
Is he good in the kitchen because we spend so much time there together, letting him try and be a part of the cooking? Or is it because he likes to bake and cook that he has made so much progress in that area?

And always when we get a test result with V that´s telling us about his disabilties, it is discouraging. It tells us in black on white that he is a boy with problems. He is not a normal kid. And that hurts of course. I mean, I know these things already, but when another doctor or psycologist again tells me about this, well you know... it is a reminder of something I sometimes let myself to forget.

Good things: V is now officially entitled to special school. And information about his conditions will now spread to his teachers in kindergarten and to people within the care system around him. The more information people around V gets about his mysterious undiagnosed condition - the better.

And, most importantly, V is the same great kid with the same great smile and tendereness as he were before the tests. Nothing has really changed in the fundamental part of being V. But we have gathered another small piece of information that helps us understanding this enigma of kid we have. And that is always a good thing.

Welcome Mach Matsou - I´ve made a special place for you in my... garage

Long time no cars. But this one I just had to get!

Mach Matsou - the japanese racecar Shu Todorokis Team Chief.

They make an excellent pair - speed and figure and the paint job makes the japanese colors look real fast! Mach Matsou is a modeled as a 1970 Nissan Fairlady Z.

Now I got the team chiefs of 6 of the race cars. 4 more are expected to reach relsease but for the missing 11th one, Rip Clutchgoneski´s chief, on one knows if we ever will see it as an diecast model.

I made a special place for the race cars and their team chiefs:

As you can see, I´ve put the Swedish racer "Flash" down at the bottom left corner as the "12th" official race car. That is clearly a violation against "canon" rules (as the five special edition cars doesn´t appear in the same movie - they appear in different movies depending on in which country the movie is shown) - but it is a nice tribute to Swedens racing legacy!

Memories of Thailand part II

In Thailand there was plenty of time to do things we have planned for long but not really had found the time for. One thing was to helping A learn to swim. That really went well. He has used armpads before but it only took him a couple of days of pool fun to discover snorkeling googels and fins.

Now he can swim at least 15 meters but he has to have the snorkel, he hasn´t found the "floating techinque" yet. But it is a remarkable change, until now, he has been a bit careful around water and has been almost terrified whenever he´s got water over his head.
But after four weeks in paradise A now jumps from the edge of the pool. Great!

As for V he too had a great breakthrough. He is still using diapers. But we really worked with him in the bathroom and one day we heard a big "Jiaaaaaaaaa".
And there it came! Number one!

A small step for mankind but a giant leap for our family!

Memories of Thailand Part I

One of the big peaks of the trip to Thailand was the Elephant Riding! On this picture you can´t really tell how big they are, but boy o`boy, they are truly huge!

Me and A went together on one of them and my wife and V sat together on another.

It was shaky and bumpy but fun. And afterwords we got to feed them with pineapple. V was thrilled and excited, giving things to that long trunk!

The sign for elephant was used a lot after that.

And so was the signs for monkey and banana after this incident. I had a bag and a banana, as we were walking past a couple of monkeys. Stupid idea.

I thought the banana would be protected since it was in plastic and not at the very top of the bag.
I was dead wrong.

The monkey made a quick jump, and hanging from the bag, it stuck a very long arm into it, grabbing the banana - in no time! And then back to the trees. Unfolding the plastic like a boss!

V was upset. It was his banana. But it was also a very exciting event so he understood that I could have done nothing to stop the little fellow. We agreed it was the monkeys fault.

We signed "The monkey stole V´s banana!" a lot after that. And we still do. A great memory!

Postcards from Thailand

We are back in Sweden again, and what a trip it has been! I´m trying to collect all the memories and moments we had in Thailand and hopefully I´ll prestent it to you here in some days.