Guest guest Posted April 15, 2002 Report Share Posted April 15, 2002 It doesn't surprise me a bit. I have never understood the idea of keeping apraxia diagnoses from these kids. Of course they notice that younger children than them are talking and they feel frustration. I always talked to ds about fact he was not talking and offered encouragement. It wasn't as if he could initiate the conversation. And today at 4 he has a great self esteem. He has no problem attempting 3 and 4 syllable words. And because of the two years of speech therapy practice he has no will repeat it over and over until he gets it perfect(typically 4 year olds get mad if you correct their pronunciation.) He loves to talk and assumes everyone wants to hear what he has to say which we do. I encourage everyone to talk to their non-verbal children and let them know you understand their frustration, and how frustrated you are because you want to hear what they have to say and that you know they will be talking soon. Dawn One night, around Christmas time, I was putting to bed after he watched his favorite movie, belle's wish. If you haven't seen this movie, it is a Christmas story about a little boy named who can't talk. As I tucked into bed, he seemed really sad so I asked him what's wrong. He said something that I couldn't understand. I was trying really hard to understand what he was saying but couldn't. I finally asked him to " show me, " he ran and got the movie and pointed to the boy, , front cover. He said, " Like me. " I said, " Yes, the little boy in the movie has the same name as you. " shook his head yes and then with the saddest little face he said " no talk right. " It wasn't easy to understand but he persisted and I finally got what he was saying and what it meant. It was profound! My 3 year old son was telling me that he knows he doesn't talk " right. " My heart just broke in a million pieces. My little boy has so much to say and can't. I spent about 10 minutes talking to him and reassuring him and then he fell asleep in my arms. _______________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE email account at iVillage.com! http://webmail.ivillage.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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