Josiah does not speak. He doesn’t have to.  He communicates quite well with his behavior. He lets us know what he needs much of the time and has discovered an effective mode of communicating without words.

When he wants a drink of water, he stands by the kitchen sink and hopes we notice.  Or, if a cup or water bottle is near by, he picks it up and brings it to us.  When he does not want the food that is offered to him at meal time, he throws it to the ground, plate and all.  We have learned to use a lot of plastic around here.  We’ve also gotten really good at grabbing bowls and cups and plates mid-air.

When Josiah wants to go outside, which he frequently does, he sits on the small stool by the back door and waits.  Or, he brings us his shoes.  Occasionally, if we’ve forgotten to lock the back door, he just leaves.

That is never a good thing actually, because if we’ve forgotten to lock the back door, we’ve also probably forgotten to lock the gate.  As soon as Josiah gains access to the back yard he does one of two things.  He tries the gate and attempts to leave the yard.  Or, he heads straight to the air conditioning unit behind the garage to ‘play’.

The string toy or beads he undoubtedly has in his hand get shoved down through the small crevices at the top of the unit creating a delightful clanging, banging sound as they whirl around for a few seconds, before landing on the concrete below.

Josiah plants his face down on the metal surface, staring intently at the excitement inside.  It only lasts for a few seconds, but it keeps his rapt attention much longer than that. It’s never a good thing to let your child ‘play’ with an air conditioning unit either, so we deter him as often as possible.

Lately, Josiah has been conveying a brand new message.

Last week he was sitting on the couch.  I was on one side of him and a caregiver was on the other side.  He took my arm and pulled me up to stand. Then he got behind me and pushed me ever so gently away from him and signed ‘finished’ with just a little too much enthusiasm.

I got the message.  He did not need me or want me in his personal space.  The caregiver however, was permitted to remain.  He really likes her.

Later that day, Josiah took Chandler by the hand and walked her to the front door.  He opened the door, pushed her out on the porch, slammed it shut and walked away with a slight grin on his face.  When she came back in, he pushed her out again.

Apparently, Josiah has decided we are no longer necessary.  He doesn’t have to tell me twice. My job here is done.  How’s this for some non verbal communication of my own?