Counting and self restraint

In December last year I discovered that although my son could already recognize and write numbers, he did not know that they have meaning. He had no problem counting the frogs in an ipad app, for example, but he would touch the numbers randomly when asked to choose the correct answer. I had him accomplish worksheets where he had to count the items and circle the number that tells how many. Counting the objects was a breeze, but he would circle any
number he liked. Eventually, he would cry when presented with a counting activity and there were instances when he refused to move his hands to circle a number.

It took him more than a month of daily practice to realize that the last number he wrote or recited was the number that tells how many. I also had to teach him to write the number over each item so that when it was time to select the answer, he would have a way to remember the last number. Between counting the objects and choosing the answer, he normally engages in self stimulatory behavior and within that short interval he tends to forget about the task.

When it was time to train him to count real objects, or perform the type of activity where a number is specified and he needs to color or circle the correct number of objects, the challenge was how to teach him to stop. He used to go on counting beyond what was needed so I had to train him about what is enough and what is too much.

My son has the tendency to engage in the same activity for an extended period. On his sixth birthday, he blew the candles repeatedly until some of them were already too short that they could no longer be lit. He used to stay for hours in his improvised bathtub, squeezing a bottle of shampoo or body bath until empty. He sharpened already sharp pencils one night until just before he fell asleep. He didn't get bored watching a pinwheel, or the lady who was preparing crepes along the sidewalk. Forcing him to stop often led to whining or tantrum, and these could last for several minutes.

I eagerly taught him how to count because I knew that the skill is required for the acquisition of other skills. I had no idea that I was teaching him much more. I came to realize only recently that it was because of the counting exercises that he now understands what I mean when I tell him "enough" or "stop" each time he finds himself unable to end what he has started.