Op here. Just wanted to bump this up. My little dancer is 5 now and in kindergarten. He is doing really well! He's still super challenging in many ways and I think it's clear he will have a significant intellectual disability and other challenges in life.

But he is still dancing and signing through life and I just adore him. We put him in dance classes but it didn't go great (he just struggles so much with attention/following instructions). We might try again in the future.

I am so proud of my little dancer. He is so precious and I love seeing him sing and dance.

Your kid sounds amazing!

This sounds like the story of Gillian Lynn the Broadway producer best known for the choreography of Cats.

As a child, she did terrible at school and her mom was concerned about her fidgeting and lack of focus, so much so that she took her to the doctor. It was this doctor who noticed her talent as she moved to the radio and told Gillian’s mom that she was a dancer. The rest is history.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillian_Lynne

Awww this is a great post <3.

Lots of kids are delayed in some area and excel in others - and most kids don’t develop evenly in all things at the same rate.

I love this!

Have you heard of Lucy Lang?She has a genetic defect which makes her autistic.Then as an infant, she got a kind of cancer which made her blind. She has extremely limited speech.But she sure can play a piano. Her teacher is amazing. https://www.lucythepianist.com/

Op you are an amazing parent. What a lucky boy!

Thank you for sharing this amazing story. Everyone is different. It sounds like he has found something he loves and excels at, his “calling” and is blessed with a loving family and nanny.

I am reading this board also with a SN child and I just had a conversation about whether my son could handle high school — even though he has taught himself multiple years of college math. (He has other challenges obviously). Keep going , we are all trying to find our way in the world. And thank you, again for sharing. Really. Wishing you a lifetime of joy and celebration via music and dancing!

Show him lord of the dance and irish dancing! I would feed this ability and build his confidence!

Hold me closer, tiny dancer.

Nice to hear a positive story. I have a 2-year-old with Down syndrome who also loves music and dancing! He’s not very coordinated, but he loves to practice. For the last couple weeks he has been completely focused on learning all the moves to “head, shoulders, knees, and toes.” Now if only we could channel that level of intensity into his therapy goals! I also had a lot of fears when I got the diagnosis, but I’ve reached a place of acceptance and I love my child deeply. Overall our lives are pretty happy!

What a wonderful thing, OP! You MUST explore this motor and rhythm skill of his. Get him into music as well, not just dance, gym and althletic pursuits.

Also, please do another evaluation in a few years. Cognitive and developmental assessments in very young children sometimes get it wrong. My kid, who was born very premature and had a global developmental delay, was not supposed to graduate high school, let alone graduate with a killer GPA and near perfect ACT! Yet he did.

This post and thread just melts my heart. It's amazing when we discover the special talents our kids have and even more amazing when parents can support these talents to grow and flourish. Thank you for sharing!

OP here back again.

Don't get me wrong, he has been extraordinarily hard to raise and we have done so much medication, therapy, thousands of hours of appointments, in patient hospital stays, etc.

But i just....I ADORE this child. Like OBSESSED. He may never be able to live independently, or drive, or even read (not sure yet-maybe, maybe not). At age 5, he talks more like a 3 year old than a 5 year old.

He is just the most unusual and unconventional child. One example-he likes to pretend that he has long hair so he always wears a long sleeved swim shirt on his head and he flicks and swings it like he is Shakira. And we bought him tap shoes which he wears all day every day.

It's hilarious watching him constantly (like MANY hours per day) play songs on his little speaker, wearing his tap shoes, singing along to the music. He has memorized multiple Shakira songs and routines and can shake his hips and do intricate footwork.

I am ashamed to admit the fears I had when he was first diagnosed as a baby and the horrible biases and beliefs I had. I think my biggest fear was that I was going to stop loving him and yet be stuck caregiving him the rest of my life. I never imagined how he'd crack my heart open and that the love I feel for him would feel so visceral. The obsession/intensity/adoration reminds me of when I first fell in love with DH (obviously it's different but the magnitude is the same-one of the most powerful feelings I've ever felt especially over such a long period).

I just thought I'd share, this board is full of heartbreak and sorrow (and I've made my fair share of posts like that here too) but I am also so proud of my DS and never could have imagined that it could all be OK in a way.

Great posts all around - all great positive comments. Best wishes to you little one, and I too was devastated by my DS report, at 3 years old, wondering if this was a death sentence, truly...anyways he's done so well he's going to be reassessed, which may or may not shed new light, but hoping for a more hopeful report & areas of strength to leverage on, like dancing & music!

This is amazing OP! I love this story. Best of luck to your son.