B. talked a blue streak today!

by bebu 20 Replies latest jw friends

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  bebu

  Some of you know that I have a daughter with a language delay; she is 5 1/2 right now, but talks more like a 3-year old in many respects. In fact, a great deal of her speech has been cut-and-paste phrases she picked up around the home or on TV. She has recently been using some phrases in better context, so we've seen progress. But tonight, she totally blew me away.

  She turned to me and said, "Today is Thursday. I was the line leader for Mrs. Henry." I about fell off my chair. I never heard such a careful sentence before from her. We could never learn from her ANYTHING about what went on in school. For almost 2 years she would simply say, "Bus!" or "I was onna bus!" Only weekly notes and reports gave us a clue about what kinds of things she did in class.

  So, I picked my jaw up off the floor, and casually asked her what else happened in school. The flood gates suddenly opened! She spoke slowly and very carefully, and said something along the lines of the following: "I was the line leader and the teacher went to the bus and I was a helper. I did the weather and I went outside and I look at the sky and I see it is not raining and it is not snowing and it is sunny and the school bell rang and Mrs. Henry go in the school and I follow her and I go up and I say to all the kids how the sky is and I sit down in the blue chair. And Mrs. Henry had an idea and she sat in the blue chair. And she said about good choices. And I did computer today but I didn't do letters. I did the puzzle and the book. I saw TV it was Dr. Suess... " and she kept talking for 5 full minutes! A variety of vocabulary words, using past tense and the past/present continuous tense, and the words quite carefully enunciated (once correcting her own pronunciation), and just on and on and on. Somewhere around minute #3 it began to really hit me--what was happening--and I just couldn't help it... .

  There were times when it seemed like nothing would EVER happen; things just kept crawling along at slower than snail-pace... but suddenly, a breakthrough!!!!... ...and now I am the one who is speechless.

  bebu
• 

  talesin

  Bebu

  I'm completely ignorant about this problem, so please forgive.

  But this sounds like GREAT news. **squeezes**

  Sounds like there has been a *connection*, I would guess (?) neural paths have been unlocked. :) :) :) She must just be so excited and happy inside, to be able to express!

  tal
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  FlyingHighNow

  This is precious, Bebu. Is there anything more beautiful in this world than a child learning and mastering language? I am moved. Please keep us updated.
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  HappyDad

  Bebu,

  I'm so happy for you and your daughter.

  Cherish this happening today and never forget it. Nothing.......and I mean nothing.... is more important than our kids.....no matter what. Watching them grow and overcome adversities is something to behold.

  My ((((((hugs)))))))) to you.

  HappyDad <-----------my own daughter is the reason for this.
• 

  rwagoner

  bebu,

  I am soo happy for you. I can truly share your pain and your joy.

  My son was born 10 weeks preemie and as he started to speak everything seemed fine and then one day he began to studder just a little. As he started entering pre-school there were times that he was so frustrated in talking that he would punch the ground and just stop trying...looking at me with such sad eyes that it tore me apart. He knew what he wanted to say and even how to say it, he just couldn't get his brain and his mouth to talk to each other. We were told this happens sometimes to kids born premature and sometimes it goes away and other times it does not.

  We were heart broken for him as parents know how hard it can be growing up with any sort of communcation issue. He was such an outgoing and verbal kid and then this struggle. We are so very lucky to live in an affluent town (we rent, no $$$ here LOL) and the school system is wonderful. He spent a year with a speech therapist and when he entered first grade this year the studder is no longer noticable.

  He is back to his outgoing, confident self and only gets stuck sometimes when he is very tired. I sit in my living room in the evening and listen to my son read stories to his mom and I and his new little sister. She of course coos and aaahs back at her Big Brother who in her eyes can do no wrong.

  (((((((bebu & daughter)))))) You're in our thoughts and just keep that hope, not always easy I know but you never know when something wonderful like today will happen.
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  bebu

  I'm so happy. B. doesn't even have a clue about the leap in language she made today.

  Tale, her speech has been so stunted all her life. Up until very recently, it was still half-babbling (for fun?). She has made some progress recently, in that the phrases she would use were getting not so out-of-context anymore. But they were hardly original creations. She could copy, but not really create.

  She is not audio, but incredibly visual. She learned to read last summer and is already at 2nd grade level. If I really want her to understand a concept, I have to draw it. I am certain that, thru reading, those brain connections (neural doo-dads connecting up, as you mentioned!) have begun to hook up in her speech section of the brain. She is finally recognizing individual words which she reads on paper with our multi-word sentences--that is, that instead of "Don't do that" as an un-alterable whole, she seems to have discovered that there are 3 words here, not 1, and she can change them around. She's starting to see individual words like individual lego blocks. Tonight she really enjoyed talking!

  Probably in a year from now, I'll be pining for the quieter days...

  (...Naw!)

  bebu
• 

  MonkeyPrincess

  wow bebu, that is amazing, it brought me to tears.
  my neighbors son has sensory devolpment disorder, he is 6 and his speach is like a
  3 year old as well.
  One day a few weeks ago i was over and our children were playing together, and my
  neighbor tells me "watch this". She asks her son if he would like a snack, he nods
  yes, she then tells him, tell me what you want and use your words, he busted out
  with "i would like some cheese". I about hit the floor and i started to cry. This was
  the first real sentence i had ever heard him say. Now he is sounding even clearer and
  can say my son's name, and he can tell me about playing outside. It is so wonderful
  to see the progress that he makes. I can imagine it being your child and how emotional
  it was.
  This is just a wonderful news, it will get even better everyday. I am just so happy for you!
  
  MonkeyPrincess.
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  Wolfgirl

  *big hugs* That sounds brilliant. :) I hope she continues.
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  AshtonCA

  Bebu,

  I know how you feel, my son had the same thing. He learned to read when he was 3 and read beautifully, but he could not speak once he turned away from the book. One thing he could always do was repeat what we would tell him to say, but on his own, he babbled like a baby. This went on until he was almost 7! He relied on us to help him form his sentences for a long long time.

  He is now 11 and still has some difficulty making sentences, but he's better. He has picked up a stammer that I notice when he talks to himself he doesn't do it, but when he tries to tell me something, he can't get the words out without repeating a few 3 times.

  I am hoping that he grows out of all of this stuff eventually.

  Ash
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  lonelysheep

  My daughter (almost 5) had an expressive language delay. She's now improved and only messes up on a few words here and there. But there was a time (age 3 1/2) when she wasn't saying much of anything...no sentences, just not able to get the words out. I know the feeling of hearing her talk in a sentence and be able to answer a question...it's amazing.