Almost a year ago, I posted about my son’s ability to plunk out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the piano.

His interest in the piano had tapered off for a bit, but in the last month or so he’s come around to it again. Up until now, his only interest was Twinkle Twinkle. But now he’s figured out how to play This Old Man, Frère Jacques, Jingle Bells, and this morning he figured out most of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Oh, and London Bridge too.

Not only that, but he has also begun to harmonize. This morning, he played Twinkle Twinkle and added the 5th note of the scale below each note. I watched him playing in the key of G, and on the harmony he knew to play F# instead of F!

About a month ago I believe he was experimenting with modes of scales. He played Twinkle Twinkle in the key of C, but moved it up a note each time. So he started in Ionian, then played the tune in Dorian, Phrygian, Mixolydian, Lydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. While they all sounded strange, I think he was truly absorbing the different flavors. I say this because later I caught him doing the same thing, but instead of using the modes of C he started on the 2nd note of each scale and played it correctly: he played the tune in C major, then D major, then E major, then F# major, and so on up the keyboard. There were some keys that gave him trouble but for the most part he’s very good at finding all the sharps and flats that make the melody work in each key.

Needless to say, I’m very proud.

On Saturday morning, I was upstairs taking care of my morning hygienic needs when I heard the melody for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star plucked on the piano downstairs, followed by my wife clapping and congratulating. At first I thought she was teaching it to my son, but when I got downstairs I saw him alone at the piano, figuring out the melody all by himself.

All weekend long, he’s been playing the melody in different octaves over the keyboard. When he finishes he turns to look at us, and when we clap he puts his hands to his face and smiles — so proud and humble! I am certainly very proud of him.

Earlier I was hesitant to post about my son’s latest development since I didn’t want to pin too much hope on it. But after a few weeks, it is clear that he has decided it’s time to start talking.

This began with an increased interest in mimicry. After 4 1/2 years I guess those mirror neurons are finally starting to fire. While his consonants are not well developed, he is extremely good at following and repeating the cadence and syllables in both words and sentences. I know I’ve heard him say most of the consonants at some point in his life, so now it’s a matter of him discovering that he knows how to form them and where to put them in words.

A couple of weeks ago, he surprised me when he turned a page in a book, pointed at a picture of a whale, and said triumphantly, “Whale!”

Last weekend, for the first time, he responded to another kid on the playground. A little girl approached him and said “Hi,” to which he also said “Hi.” It may not seem huge, but for him to use a word in a socially relevant context is a major step.

He knows all of his colors and can count from 1 to 20, and he’s even counted into the twenties (though he seemed to think that twenty-ten makes far more sense than thirty; who am I to argue?). He’s pretty good at a number of animal names as well.

In my last post about autism, I linked to a video showing that while an autistic person may appear to “normal” folks as having little to no ability to communicate, they do indeed have highly developed interpretive and communicative skills. This video reminded me of a link from awhile back on BoingBoing where a research team posits that autistic people do not have a mental disorder so much as they are a variant of the human species: a different kind of person.

You can read and hear more about it here: Rethinking Autism. There is a twenty-odd minute audio file there that I encourage you to give a listen if you are interested in this subject.

My own experience with my son, and for that matter with myself, corroborates this new approach to understanding autism. Currently, the psychological community defines autism as a mental disorder (as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) and as such, research into autism is focused on finding a cure. The research team interviewed in Rethinking Autism takes umbrage at that research paradigm, and argues that the model of autism as a mental disease is flawed. Instead, research should be focused on understanding what autism is. In the proposed research paradigm, autism is a variant within the human species in much the same way as homosexuality. Once we better understand autistic variance, we can address the organizational aspects of society that are problematic for autistic people.

One of the most frustrating aspects of parenting a child who is on the autistic spectrum is the problem of “fitting in” with society. Autistic people’s lives are difficult, not so much because of autism, but because it’s not socially acceptable to be autistic. If we have a greater understanding of the condition, then those who are afflicted would have an easier time finding their role within society.

I seem to have emerged from my pissy mindset, at least for a little while. We’ll see how long it lasts when I return to work tomorrow.

Here’s the problem: the small windows that I get to be with my son are at the absolute worst parts of the day. Both of us are crabby in the morning, and by late afternoon we’re both worn out by the day, and once again, crabby.

After many days and weeks of seeing only the crabbiness, I begin to believe that the small window through which I’m viewing contains the entire world. It’s simply not true, and thankfully my son has shown it to me over the last few days.

Most of the time, my son is in a pretty good mood. He knows tremendous joy, and knowing that gives me a deep optimism and sense of purpose for our future lives. He has lifted my spirits this Christmas, and I feel that sense of spiritual rebirth so rooted in the human archetype of the winter solstice.