For Martha about Speech and Social Skills

[Guest guest]

Martha,

I think it is great that you tried to help these other families. You can

lead them to water but you can't make them drink. You have to be stubborn

and never give up. Most people are looking for that magic pill that will

instantly cure their child. I'm here to tell you there is no magic fix. I

know because I looked everywhere for it. Even if you could wave a magic

wand and make our kids bodies better, it takes years to develop speech and

social skills.

Think about " normal " kids and how long it takes to develop real

conversational speech. At least three years. Think about when you were

learning Spanish or French in school, how long did it take for you to learn

to speak? And didn't you understand what was being said before you could

speak?

Remember our kids lack the signs that give us the reinforcement to keep

talking to them because we assume they are not understanding because they

don't look at us. But they are learning. The hardest thing to do was to

keep talking to a kid who did not respond. Just keep working at it. Your

son may not show you he is learning but I guarantee he is.

The social is the last to come. My son 20 and recovered did not have true

friendships I didn't facilitate until last year when he went off to college.

Now he is leaving to meet a bunch of kids for a surf weekend and traveling

up North for a birthday celebration for one of his college buddies. Just

don't give up on them and don't assume they are not understanding what you

say when they act like they don't.

Marcia

Martha said:

,

Do you mind my asking how old your daughter is? My son is 4 1/2 and is what

I would call higher moderate but not mild and we have been with Dr. G over a

year. We are so discouraged because he is not talking spontaneously and has

no interest in his peers and we have done everything we can think of to

facilitate both areas. We are not giving up on Dr. G but it is so helpful

to

hear success stories to affirm that we are on the right track.

I too encourage every one about the NIDs protocol and even got three

families to fly cross country to give it a try. They have all given up on

Dr. G by the way . But since our son is not coming out of the autism dx like

we had hoped it is hard to convince folks.

Martha