Over the years, J has had numerous 'magnetic drawing boards' which are a progression on from the 80's sketch boards called
Etch A Sketch. Do you remember these? You could only control the movement by dials, so drawings were harder to do, and frustrating if you went wrong.
Around 12 years ago I found a really good brand of new style magnetic drawing boards, and have stuck to them ever since.
Every year he receives a new one as a present at Christmas, and he still loves to use them to communicate with me. He only ever really asks for food to eat, or food he wants me to order in the shopping basket online, or describes where the food he likes has been put.
The brand I use is called
Tomy Megasketcher, and they're hard wearing, bright, and fun to use, and all my boys have played on them over the years.
I've been collecting photos of what he's written for the last few months, and here are a selection of the ones he's brought to show me - he wants me to photograph them, and waits while I find my phone, and then wants me to take a picture. He reads out what he's written, and I know this is his request for what he'd like!
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| He's asking for an ice cream known as a Strawberry Cornetto, that comes in a box of four. |
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This is a drawing of the packed lunch that he takes to college. He's drawn and written ; his water bottle, a custard pot, a pot of sliced cucumber, a sandwich, a packet of crisps, and a chocolate bar.
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| I've written before about his love of Jaffa Cakes. This was a request for the yard stick of Jaffa Cakes that they only sell around Christmas. |
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| In the UK we have chocolate biscuit bars called 'Penguins'. I have to lock away all the foods J likes to gorge on, in specially made drawers in my kitchen, and this was his way of telling me what he'd like and where they are. |
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| He loves hash browns, and they come in packs of 14. He's asking me to add two packs to the shopping list! |
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| He's describing how I cut his toast up - into 4 pieces. |
There are a lot more of these I could show, but it'd be repetitive and you get the gist!
It's great that he can communicate with me by this method, but he doesn't get what he requests all the time!
