“Hello everyone, I’m Luke!”. Even though there was no one around to hear Luke make this proclamation a week ago in the parking garage at the UK Hospital, hearing Luke say this thrilled my soul. I knew that initiating proper introductions was something Luke’s therapy team had been working with Luke on for some time now. You see, because Luke has Autism, communication and social skills are especially challenging for him. What may seem like a very basic social skill for most children, to be able to say “Hi” and state your name, is something that Luke has to be taught. Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning each person with autism has a distinct set of strengths and challenges, and this is certainly true for Luke.
Though it has taken longer than I would like to admit, I have gotten past most of my worries and concerns about what other people might think when Luke communicates in ways that are different than most children his age. But something that still bothers me is that because Luke communicates differently, other people don’t get to see and know the amazing Luke that I am blessed to know and love every day. So, today, on Luke’s birthday, I wanted to share a few special things about our Luke, in hopes that everyone can get a small glimpse of our boy.
Luke is so very smart! From a very young age, Luke has shown an interest and aptitude for learning, but especially for learning and manipulating numbers and letters. Through what I am assuming came by watching educational television and looking at books, Luke learned the alphabet, how to count to 100 (and now far beyond), shapes, colors, etc. We read to him when he was young and I would play with him in ways to encourage learning, but he took off on his own and now reads full children’s books, writes in full sentences, and is currently skip counting and writing multiplication tables. He loves to go to the trampoline and write with sidewalk chalk. His newest skill is writing numbers and placing the less than/greater than sign between the numbers (correctly, I might add), then telling me which is more and which is less. He amazes me daily by coming up with new ways to learn, and his ability to recall what he learns is truly phenomenal. He keeps his therapists on their toes, as they daily have to find new skills and tasks for him because he learns at such a rapid pace. We are so thankful for the amazing mind God has given Luke, and we look forward with great anticipation to how God will use this skill in Luke’s life.
Luke loves music! One of the first things he does after he is buckled into the car is to say, “Music on”, as he always wants there to be some sort of music playing. He likes a wide variety of music, but he is especially partial to Toby Mac, which makes me, a lifelong DC Talk fan and now Toby Mac fan, very happy. Even more so, it blesses my soul to hear Luke singing about God’s goodness. I can often hear Luke singing his favorite Toby Mac song while he is playing inside the house or outside jumping on the trampoline. He also loves to read the lyrics of songs, and then write them on the trampoline with sidewalk chalk. His newest way of expressing his love for music is by writing his big sister Emmie’s entire playlist on the trampoline or pieces of paper. Emmie also likes a wide variety of music, so it’s pretty funny to see people try and figure out what Luke is trying to communicate when he writes the names of song titles by Toby Mac, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus (I feel the eyes of judgement upon me already, lol). I’m so thankful God has given Luke this love for
music.
Luke is funny and loves to have fun! He has a great sense of humor. One of his favorite jokes is to call “circle time” at therapy (where the children all sit in a circle on the carpet to participate in some sort of group activity) “square time”. His therapists always get a kick out of that. He also loves to play tricks on his younger siblings, like dumping water on Eva’s head in the bathtub or covering her up with her blanket on the trampoline and asking, “Where did Eva go?”. The minute Eva sees Luke get on the trampoline, that is where she wants to be. She absolutely delights in getting to be on the trampoline and jump with Luke! The beautiful thing about kids is that play is a universal language they all understand. So even though Luke might not communicate with them like the other kids do, they all still enjoy interacting and playing together. Luke also makes normal kid jokes about certain bodily functions, if you catch my drift. He can often be heard saying, “What was that? Shoo that’s stinky!” Luke keeps us laughing and smiling in his own special way.
Luke is loving and affectionate. He will come over and plop down on my lap, snuggle up with Zack, and watch television on the couch cozied up to his brothers and sisters. He loves snuggle time on mornings when he doesn’t have to get up early for school, and he loves to have a visit from the tickle monster. He has moments when he tells us, “I need space” or “I need a break” and we know that Luke needs to withdraw and have some time alone. God has given him a gentle spirit that is so very sweet.
Though all these things describe Luke, none of them define him. And though it may impact every part of his life every day here on this earth, Luke certainly isn’t defined by a condition like ASD. He is defined by his creator, God, who made Luke in his image and knew and loved him long before the foundations of the earth came to be. To God be the glory.
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Life with Luke is a blessing. I thought about writing a post today about what life has been like as a special needs parent, something I never would have chosen to be, something I never could have imagined that I could or would be. Then God made it clear that there would be a time for that post, and there is a need for that post, but it’s not today. Today is a day to celebrate and share with the world what an amazing little guy Luke Keller Caldwell is.
I consider it my highest honor and greatest blessing to be called “mom” by all of my precious children, but there is something different when you hear your child with a communicative disability like ASD say your name. I know my calling is to be his voice when the world can’t hear his. And that is something that with God’s help and the support of Zack and the rest of our family, I will do everyday, to the best of my ability. Happy Birthday to you Luke! You are loved more than you will ever know.
