One of the biggest challenges Monty faces is learning to share. I know he’s not the only child in the world who has this difficulty, but it’s fascinating watching how children react when learning how to interact with each other. Monty has gone through various stages including fighting off anyone even thinking of approaching his toys. Whenever I mention sharing to him I can tell from his facial expressions that he is less convinced of the wisdom of sharing than I am. He has this look which is a mixture of disbelief and also of total bewilderment. “Why would anyone want to share their toys with someone else, even their best friend?? I mean, really, why would they?”

So when one of Monty’s friends came over to play the other day and both wanted to draw on a kind of etch-a-sketch toy we have, I had a hard job persuading them they they could both use the gizmo. I had actually thought that maybe they would take it in turns. But in the end, even I had to compromise and let both of them draw at the same time. I decided that in these circumstances it would be best to find a place where I could closely monitor the proceedings. (see demonstration photo).

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