The last part of this story came about when Natalya was about 7 or 8, again I'm vague because my memory for dates isn't good.                  Anyway  she had been reading for a few years and was bright at school. Nothing really

out of the ordinary. She had been learning the Volin for a few years ( started at 5 ) Ben was 2 years younger and it was very apperent by now that he was different from other kids. He had learning difficulties, was not of what they say Normal Intelligent levels and was 1 point too high to go into a special education support unit. 

I am telling you this so you get the full picture of how I felt when I discovered just how young Chris had turned out. You see that was the reason I stopped doing the Maths, the unknown. My fears of weather the outcome was worth the effort. Would children who became so smart, like I had seen with Chris have a happy life? Would they be well adjusted to the world? That type of thing.

One Sunday night I was watching one of my favorite T.V shows. Who wants to be a Millionare?  This contestant got on. His name was Christoffer, and yes it was him. Even though he was in his twenties, I could still see it was that same little boy I had known alll those years ago.

I watched with amazement as he got almost to the Million. From memory he knew the answer to the last question but wasn't going to take the chance that he had gotten it wrong. I saw him again on T.V when the footy show also hosted by Eddie McGuire came to Perth. They made a bit of fun of him, however seeming a little different from others, he seemed to me to be well adjusted. He certainly was able to talk with people, I mean not everyones capable of holding it together on National T.V, but Chis did.

For me after seeing this came regrets. Why hadden't I perservered ? Not so much for Natalya.  But for Ben, who was struggling even to go to school. He hated it so much. He got teased, he found learning such a task. He had to go to speach therapy, occupational therapy. It was a tough time. Because he already knew what a number looked liked it really was too late to pick up and do the Dot method of Maths. In doing this could I have opened up a part of Ben's brain that may have helped to learn better, which in turn would have helped him to socialize better. I guess I will never know. If I could have my time over, I'd do things differently. Oh it's hindsight such a wonderful thing....

Fast forward to now. Natalya is in a extention Maths class at school ( she's no Einsten), she is without a doubt musically gifted. The intruments she's plays are Violin, Bassoon, Flute, Piano, Keyboard, Acoustic Guitar, Electic Guitar, Clarinet (she has all these intruments in her music room. She also can play the trumpet which she was learning last year before changing to Bassoon. She didn't like the trumpet much, but yes she can play one. So why am I telling you about her music ability. Good question. Is the fact that she's good at Music because she's good at Maths or Is it the other way around ? Is any of it due to the fact she began to learn that method of maths all be it for such a short time ?

It doesn't really matter, she has a pretty happy and busy teenagers life. Is leaning toward being a music teacher, Maybe. But whatever that will be her choice, for now she's teaching Ben the Banjo for me.

Back to Ben he's doing pretty good now. He still doesn't have many friends, but his social skills are getting a little better. He doesn't say much unless he really knows you well. Next year when he goes to high school he wil be in the Special Education Support Unit at the same school Natalya goes to. It's a Catholic School that we are very happy with. At the local government school Ben wouldn't be able to be in one of these units and his reading ability now has improved to maybe year 4 possibly 5 level. So he is still a way behind his peers which is ok. But if you ask Ben about facts on the war, he probably can tell you. Kids with Autism can take in information that really interest them.         

You can't change what you did or in my case Didn't do. For other young " Ben's" of the world I wanted to tell this story. The thought that life might be easier by learning and understand things better. If that part of the brain opens up for these children I say why not try it. At a very early age many children can be identified with learning difficulties. It's at this point that I say have a go at this Dot method. What have you got to lose. It does take time. But isn't time something worth investing in our children. Of course the answer is YES. I'm mean we invest timetaking them to sport training and events. We invest time in taking them to Music lessons and performances. When they're little why not invest the time in teaching them to Read and do Maths. I had a quick look on the internet last night to see if I could find the book or anything about the centres. I did find some pictures of what I remember the book looked like. I googled 1950's Teach your baby Math. I saw some stuff about it on this site,  www.childandme.com/  but I'm sure theirs more on the internet. The book was by Glenn Dormain and his wife who's name escapes me right now....

I hope that I didn't bore you too much with this 3 part article. I just want to finish by saying althought it's all from my memory this is a TRUE account of a very bizzare thing that happened in my life. I wonder if I was given the book for the sake of Ben, but failed to see that gift was for his sake. I think for me I missed the sign, If your reading this and a lot ring true for you, please don't be like me and miss the sign.

P.S Keep an eye out for the true dairy enties that will follow, for now I'd better get searching.... to find the dairy.