The New Girl

My son likes girls. When he was in preschool, there was one particular girl that he had a crush on. He couldn’t communicate very well back then, but you could still easily see that he really liked her. But she mostly ignored him, at least until the end-of-school picnic.

In kindergarten, during the four months that he was mainstreamed at our neighborhood school, he was especially fond of two girls. His communication skills were starting to develop, but he still could not interact with the girls like other kids could. They spoke with him every once in awhile, but I think it was as much to tease him as to be friendly with him. I don’t think he realized they might be being mean to him. He just relished their attention whenever he got it.

Now he attends a therapeutic school. The reality is that far fewer girls go to this school than boys. During first grade, Kai’s class consisted only of boys. And the same has been true in second grade. So there have been no girls for Kai to pine over.

Until now.

In the past couple of weeks, two girls have joined his class. And Kai couldn’t be happier about it.

Yesterday, we met with a therapist at his school who teaches once a week in his classroom. She recounted to us that as she was about to start her latest session, Kai excitedly raised his hand. She called on him.

“Um, excuse me, Dr. G____. You have to introduce yourself to C_____.”

Kai was concerned that the new girl wouldn’t know the speaker, and he was looking out for her.

It was funny to think of my young son being so chivalrous, and so concerned about another child.

It was also wonderful to think about how far his communication skills have come since preschool.

Hmm, maybe this girl will pay some attention to him.