Hi folks.

I've known this kid was special, but he just turned three today and, after he read me his entire birthday card spontaneously, I happened to see a milestone page online that declared that most kids don't count backwards from 20 until age six... and this one has been counting backwards from 100 (and forwards) since he was about 22 months. Thought maybe I'd come here.

My main question for you is this - what do I need to watch out for now, given this kid in particular? I'm afraid of school, especially with the october birthday.

How can I get a head start on making sure school works for him?


Let me make an abbreviated list:

His specialty is numbers and letters
- 18m-22m upper case alphabet, then lower case, counting up to 100, and backwards with the microwave's help
- 22-24m - could read up to 60 serious sight words - xylophone, electricity, cooperate, etc. Forced me to teach him to write by screaming until i traced shit endlessly with him.
- 24-2.5years - all numbers all the time, can read cat in the hat level books. Can write by himself, and does. Everywhere.
-3years - can read above cat and the hat. TBH, he's able to do a lot of reading that i can't track. Memorized the greek alphabet two months ago.

He's got
- extraordinary memory - my mom died when he was 2, and he remembered her for at least 7 months even though he'd only met her a handful of times. Remembers places we went a year ago.
- humor - thinks wordplay (don't sit, spit!) is hilarious
- focused like a bastard, but can be drawn away by people.
- sat stock still through a 45 minute classical music concert yesterday, entirely rapt.
- Loves complicated music
- shocks the shit out of me regularly.

Pretty normal other stuff
- Still won't use the potty (he's nervous, my fault, I think)
- pretty cautious guy on playgrounds, but gets familiar and is ok
- cant get him to spit or blow his nose. He knows what he's supposed to do, but won't.

His environment
- in day care, loves it
- LOVES other kids
- In general, social skills are getting better.
- He mimics the kids instead of doing letters all the time - he stopped writing letters at school, and now just scribbles. He talks more nonsense now and does pretend play... which he never did before. I think it's a good thing. I like to think he's adapting and fitting in.

Thought he might have autism there for a while, but no longer think so. I think it was just his introverted, brainiac parents being a bad influence!