This boy is Jake. This boy is wonderful, but you have to get to know him first. He has a few things going for him (or some might say against him)...whatever you think it makes him who he is. Jake (and his brother Nick) were born with verbal apraxia, which in very simple terms means that there is breakdown somewhere between his brain telling him how to say something and his mouth verbalizing it. He has had this challenge for nine years and through hundreds (thousands?) of hours of speech therapy he has kicked that challenge in the butt. Eight years ago, if you told me he would one day be completely understandable by those outside of the family, I would have doubted it. However, that has happened. What else happened in the meanwhile is that he developed frustration issues. My opinion is that came as a result of not being able to verbalize, but what do I know. So Jake requires a bit of patience at times, but don't we all. He gets overwhelmed with loud noises, crowds and too much action going on around him - sounds a bit like me. LOL! I admire Jake for many things and a few of those are: #1 - he doesn't really care what anyone thinks. He is not a follower. He will not jump off a bridge, because so and so did; #2 - he doesn't require being surrounded by friends to be happy. He is a friend to himself and most days that is enough; and #3 - He is creative and imaginative. He is a joy to watch, because he always has a "play" going on. Jake is his own person and, if you are on his short list of friends, which I am thrilled to be on, he will LOVE YOU TO PIECES. This boy is Jake and he always makes me happy.
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY
SIDE NOTE: The layout is a lift of April's. You will find her layout here: Nati and Addy
10 comments:
Denise, this is a fantastic layout - love what you did with the Hambly. And, I love what you've shared about Jake. He sure seems like a great kid and this story makes me happy!
Smokin' layout, my friend. I hope you are enjoying the long weekend. :)
Awesome page, as always. :)
It takes a lot of work to raise a child, and even more of a wonderful dedicated parent when there are challenges. I have a good friend with a boy (also named Jake) that has a form of autism- and he deals with some of the things your DS deals with. Love the page. Beautifully done.
I LOVE this LO!! Jake makes me smile too!!
denise... i thought i commented on this at SC... (where is my mind lately?) but i just wanted to tell you how awesome this is! i love how you used the hambly... very tough for me! and even more... wonderful story on jake... that's what really matters! TFS!
love what you did with the hambly...awesome!
jake is a cutie!
He sounds like a great kid. Good for him. Great lift too.
THis is a great layout. And Jake sounds like my daughter. She does not like loud noises, busy places, and prefers quiet and she most certainly has a frustration factor too, as well as I do (I am learning).
I love what you did here with the Hambly. It's awesome, a great design!
Post a Comment