I'd kind of given up on the handwriting until....

I stared at the classwork Max had brought home, and I wasn't sure: had he written those words? The handwriting wasn't adult-like, and yet, it was clear and neat. I hadn't ever seen handwriting like that from Max.

Max does his homework on the SnapType app—his teachers snap photos of worksheets with it, and then Max types on the images. Otherwise, he doesn't write much at home and I haven't done much to encourage it.

Does it sound awful to give up on your child? Perhaps. But I'd say that it's a reasonable, responsible and very sane thing to do when you have a child with multiple challenges. Handwriting is not something that's seemed important to Max's growth or existence, especially given the other life skills he needs to work on including getting dressed and brushing his teeth. There is also a whole lot he can do with technology now, and pushing him to grasp a pencil—even if it's encased in tubing, to make it easier to hold—just hasn't seemed like a vital need.

Then there's the fact that there is only so much of me to go around. It is just not humanly possible for me to coach Max to do everything he is not yet able to. That wasn't so when he was little, when I felt like I had to do anything and everything for his development—and when I hoped that he would do anything and everything. As we've both matured, I've gotten realistic about Max's strengths and abilities. I mainly focus on the biggies, along with what he wants. Max very much likes to use his voice to communicate, and so helping him along with speech is a key focus.

We have reached an exciting new phase in Max's life. The one where I, as the parent, may not push him to do something...and then he takes the initiative to do it. Max has been wanting to do more handwriting at school, one of his teachers recently mentioned to me. And so, he did. And wow, it was good.