Wyatt usually moves at a slower pace than the rest of the world... and then completely out of nowhere he'll say something that will make your jaw drop and you'll wonder "how the hell did he know that?"
He's behind in all his classes and low on all his test scores, but still he KNOWS STUFF. Even though he seems to spend a lot of time in his own little world, stuff is still getting through to him...
It takes him forever to get ready in the mornings. I hate to rush him, but if I don't hurry him along we would be late every. single. morning... He cannot do more than one thing at a time. He cannot eat and watch TV, he cannot talk and get dressed, etc...
Getting ready this morning, he would stop putting his socks and shoes on every time he talked to me. The clock was ticking, and I knew he was gonna be late again.
Finally, "Wyatt, put your socks on WHILE you talk to me. You need to learn to multi-task."
And he replies, "You need to learn empathy."
Empathy?? Where did that come from? I know adults who don't know what empathy means. He is waaay below average in school, but he knows the word empathy AND used it correctly.
AND, he was right. I do need to learn empathy.
So what if it takes him a little longer to get ready? So what if he can't talk and put his socks and shoes on at the same time? All he needs is for me to understand and stop constantly rushing him.
So, that was my lesson for the day - now go get your dictionary and look up "empathy" ;)