Also regarding to reading... how sensitive is he to feeling like being a trick pony? DH and I suspect that DS is very sensitive to this and focuses a lot of energy into blending in - we had no idea he could read until months after his shadowing day at the GT school at 3.8, and they said he was reading words off the wall. So DH asked him and he said "I just wanted to surprise you." So we don't push him. Even today, with books I know he can read, if he wants us to read, we just read - and have not pushed him to read to us.
I think there's some resistance to showing something he feels he hasn't mastered. He is very much a child who either observes and internalizes a process before acting, or who jumps in confidently and then withdraws at the first setback. Because he's not in an outside care environment, there isn't a concern about him masking ability to achieve peer or teacher acceptance.
I'm trying to override some of those initial responses to failure through some fun activities like riding a scooter. Case in point: day 1- DS careens excitedly down hills, whooping and delighted. Day 2- DS falls twice, refuses to try again, and has to be coaxed to make another attempt. He puts out a feeble effort, then, after half an hour of being urged on, decides it's fun again.
Temperamentally, I am cut from the same cloth when it comes to intial reactions, so I should know better!
Thanks for all your thoughts, notnafnaf.
