Yes, it’s a very sturdy, orthopaedic stander. It will help stretch Jon’s hamstrings and hopefully inhibit further progress of his scoliosis. Jon did some standing in class this past year, and it turns out he’d prefer to stand and learn than sit. It was especially effective for teaching math, and we walked into a class where Jon’s teacher Denis was basically giving Jon the “stand and deliver” treatment. The whole class was involved, but if any of the other students were having trouble, Jon was called in to suggest assistance. Wow.

He quite likes it, and can do about 30-50 minutes in it out of the gate. With any luck, as we continue he’ll develop some musculature to support himself for even longer.

The other day, we took delivery of this, and then learned—kind of—how to carefully adjust it. It’s more complex than you guess. But what’s it for?

In our last eye doctor episode, Dr. Wiggins confirmed that Jon’s eyes had stabilized (somehow) back to a focus point where he didn’t need glasses, but that we should be watchful in case he suddenly started squinting or leaning over to try to get closer—especially during the sudden growth segment of puberty. This alert was based on the fact that:

1. Jon has already been nearsighted;
2. Jon has two parents, in case no one noticed, who wear glasses for nearsightedness.

So come November, we started seeing such behaviour occasionally, while Jon was watching TV, etc. We kept watching for it, and although it wasn’t constant, there definitely did seem to be something going on. By mid-December we booked an appointment for last Thursday.

So what’s the upshot of yet another trip to Waterloo, to visit the good doctor and his pair of students? Nada. Nuffink. Jon’s eyes focus at exactly the same prescription as previously (for the record, ever-so-slightly farsighted—but nothing that requires glasses). We were slightly perturbed. I began to apologize for taking up their time and Dr. Wiggins stopped me. “I asked you to watch out for a particular behaviour and you saw it. You didn’t call the first time you saw it, you kept on the lookout and saw it repeated a number of times. I told you to call me if it kept up. It turns out that it’s not Jon’s ability to focus. But it could have been an entirely different outcome.”

The doctor speculated that given that the eyes are okay, it’s likely CNS (central nervous system)-based, a pretty solid call given Jon’s cerebral history. This suggests that the wash of hormonal activity happening around Jon’s body is affecting the development of his visual cortex. Not a huge leap of logic, that one. But yet another fascinating chapter (to us, anyway) in Jon’s growth.

When last we mentioned Jon’s math situation, 19 school days ago, Jon had been learning addition of two-digit numbers. In the not-overly-long time since then he has:
1) Moved quickly on to three-digit addition (since once you’ve seen one carry-over, you’ve seen them all!)
2) Been moved on to subtraction: first they reinforced stacking, of course, then Jon’s teacher taught him borrowing. This most challenging part of math thus far was taught at school, and I don’t know the specifics. And that bugs me because I’d love to know how it was explained to Jon so plainly and directly that he just picked it up.

In any case he did pick it up, and the next two week was spent cementing the concept of borrowing for two-digit numbers. I think there was the occasional three digit equation in there too (he and I did homework together). In any case, on Thursday Jon was given his first math test since learning multiple-digit addition and subtraction. And he got 11 out of 11. And this includes the last question which was something on the order of:

104 – 47=

This problem requires borrowing over two columns. But that didn’t faze Jon.

The only blockade seems to be the single number additions and subtractions. It’s taking him a very long time to commit the minor computations to memory. While that stopped other teachers on the spot, Jon’s current teacher says, “He can figure that out with a number line or calculator. In fact, realistically, most people use calculators to do almost all of their addition and subtraction.” The fact is that beyond the single digits Jon has no trouble with the computations of tens and hundreds, and presumably beyond.

Friday, Jon’s teacher asked if I had any ideas as to what to proceed to next in math, no doubt just to get my input. I metaphorically lifted my hands and stepped back. I explained that as far as math was concerned, he had already exceeded our expectations for the year, and that I was not in a position to recommend where to go next; we fully trusted him. Quite frankly Jon’s current teacher seems to be an equal to Jon’s spectacular teacher from three years ago (who took him from basic early reading and spelling to a grade three level in both) and in this case I know when to get out of everyone’s way.

Go Jon Go!