James has an infectious laugh; it is one of those laughs that can start as a chuckle, a little giggle, and then builds and builds into a raucous belly laugh that barely gives him opportunity to take a breath. All sorts of things can set him off, maybe something he’s watching on his iPad. Once he totally fell about in laughter while watching the film ‘Mamma Mia,’ at the point where Pierce Brosnan was ‘singing.’ Ever the critic, our James! Sometimes it can be something we’re all doing together; he’s ever so ticklish too. But sometimes his laugh just shows us that he is delighting in the moment.
The other day, James was stretched out on one of the sofas in our lounge, just enjoying being with the rest of the family. A look of pure joy spread across his face, and as his laugh emerged, our non-verbal autistic son said, “Appy!! Appy!!” Indeed he was—and so were we!! It reminded me of the words given to Job by his friend Bildad the Shuhite (also known as the shortest person in the Bible. Think about it!):
“He will fill your mouth with laughter. Shouts of joy will come from your lips.” Job 8:21
Life was hard for Job, really hard, yet here was the promise of joy and laughter to cut through the hard times. Things can be hard for James too, especially at the moment, so seeing him truly happy and filled with joy and laughter was such a precious gift for us all, one that we will treasure.
When James laughs, it takes over his whole body. What starts as a gleeful giggle builds to become something that rocks his whole body with laughter. His arms often wave in the air, his face tries to contain his smile; he’ll almost stop, and then you’ll see whatever started him laughing pass across his mind again, and off he goes a second time. By this time we’re all joining in. In the same way that the great comics could set a whole audience off by just a look, or a chuckle—think Eric Morecambe or Bob Hope—whatever the initial trigger for James’ laughter, we’re all lost in the moment of collective joy and delight.
Source: Special Needs Parenting- Key Ministry
