Since Frankie is getting older by the day, I have split the pages. This page has Frankie from ages 0-11. The subpage will have age 12 and up.
This is Frankie at about 6 months old. Since he was my first, I didn't know that this fascination with visual platforms was a bit strange for a baby. Now with my second, who I can't keep interested in anything, I see the difference even more.
Frankie is a year old here. He loved this music class. He was very outgoing and enjoyed being curious and laughing. At this point there were no signs of any upcoming issues. All milestones were met or exceeded.
Frankie was a few months into two here. He was great at drawing. He would watch Blues Clues and be able to copy the picture. He had a determination about it. If he didn't think it came out right, he would keep trying. He loved these magnetic boards for that purpose and was able to understand and then draw all kinds of shapes and pictures.
This is May 2012. Frankie was two months short of two. He loved letters but only had maybe two words he would actually use. He did not call us by name and he was not saying yes or no. He did follow instructions when given. However, he was labeling things in books and what we didn't realize was that he was reading them. He was always happy when surrounded by letters.
Just another video of Frankie when he was two.
This is one year later. It was May 2013 and Frankie was two months shy of three. We didn't know about HL3 until he had turned four so his reading was scary because we thought he would never talk. At one point we tried to taking reading away from him thinking he would never learn to speak and be dependent on reading when this is not the case at all. We later learned that is the key to getting them to learn and use oral language. Frankie also had echolalia at about 3 and a half until he turned four where he began to use two word sentences.
This is why we are trying to get the word out because they are not autistic. They are specific to HL3 and even if it's on the spectrum, it should be its own diagnosis.
Frankie at 3 years, 9 months. His words were becoming clearer. You can hear how he repeats the sentence to make it complete. We would tell him and he would know how to use it more consistently at this point. The reason I put months as well is because he was literally changing from month to month.
This is Frankie one month shy of four. He still didn't like answering yes and no. His answers were usually one or two words. But he was always silly and fun and loving. That sound you hear him make is what we call his"humming" and he does it when he is happy. He still does it when he is happy and we try to nicely remind him not to do that if he can. He always stops but it's almost like a habit from when he was little when he didn't have the words to fill his happiness with.
This is Frankie at his fourth birthday party. This was never fun as he hated the singing, he hated the candles and it was disheartening. This was, thankfully, the last year this happened.
When Frankie turned four, he had started to make two word sentences. He started to call us and use our names and use yes and no. His voice sounds different than a typical child his age and I can only assume that is because of the HL3. He would also "air" write at this point. He probably did that later part of three to four. He also LOVED Eric Carle.
Frankie is turning five here and luckily he stopped hating this tradition for the most part lol
Frankie is five years four months here. HIs speech is more developed and finally on age appropriate level.
Frankie is six years one month here. His language is much more fluid. He talks freely and openly at the house although still very shy at school and won't initiate conversation with people outside of the house, although he will talk to them if they start the conversation.
Older Years
Frankie 8
years old
Frankie 9
years old
Frankie 10 1/2
years old
Frankie 11 Years Old
