The language of no words is how we speak.

The word "listen" contains the same letters as the word "silent" and 

sometimes the most powerful thing someone can say is nothing at all.  

Today camp starfish centered around sea turtles. Brittany and Tyler from UNC Pembroke had 5 awesome stations where the students were able to create, craft, and read about sea turtles. 

Being partners with Jayden today made the day go by quick. He still did not seem interested in what the rest of the camp was doing but he did again, what he pleased. 

We colored for about 45 minutes. I had never Seen him so engaged in one activity. He was focused, determined, and creative. 

The first day I was with Jayden, his coloring had no organization, but today was different.  He worked on a coloring sheet that had a sentence about turtles, and he individually colored each letter in each word. The colors were random, but I couldn't help but think if this was his way of communicating or if he was just simply expressing himself. 

After coloring no longer preoccupied him, I held him in my arms as he almost fell asleep. He gave me lots of kisses and liked sticking his fingers in my mouth. His fingers had also been in his mouth, and all over the dirty floor.

He laid with his back on the ground while I stood over him and got him to smile. He would clap three or four times and then I would mimic him so he knew I was paying attention. I would tickle him and make lots of sounds in his face to see if he would copy. But his preferred communication was an occasional laugh, many smiles, and lots of clapping. 

The remainder of the time he sat under a table with his back laying against my legs as I sat in a chair above him. He still did a lot of clapping and I still would copy him so he knew that I was still with him. 

I still don't know anything about Jayden, except for that he doesn't talk. Maybe he has no interest in speaking to anyone. Or maybe he hasn't found the words to say to express the way he feels about things. The only thing I do know is that when Jayden does talk, the entire world will stop to listen, and I hope I am blessed enough to hear. 

People who do not understand your silence will never understand your words, because nothing beautiful asks for attention.