His recent list of phrases includes:
Maggie, where are you?
There it is!
Night-night! Love you!
Sit right here, Mama.
I don't know.
It sounds like he's saying more than just those but, as usual, the enunciation could use some work. I'm just happy to hear him trying in the first place.
Aside from increased vocabulary and better facility with stringing words together, the biggest change is how much happier he is. We used to have 20 min tantrums at meal times because he couldn't communicate what he wanted. He would get frustrated, we would get frustrated, and it would all degenerate into screams. Those days are mostly a thing of the past. His base level of frustration has dropped significantly and stems more from not getting what he wants rather than not being able to tell us what he wants. He no longer loses his shit at the first sign that someone doesn't understand him. Instead, I consistently see him try desperately to get his point across and he works at it until he succeeds.
There is still a very long way to go. He is way behind his peers as far as being inteligible goes. If my memory hasn't rotted away completely (always a hazard), Jamie seems to be around the same level Liam was when Liam got tubes just before he turned two. After Liam got his tubes, it took him about a year to catch up. He wasn't nearly so badly delayed as Jamie and he didn't get early intervention like Jamie has but it still took almost a year. Now, he never shuts up, uses words far beyond his age level, and deploys sarcasm with devastating accuracy. With continued therapy, I believe Jamie will be chattering away like a pro within the next year.
I teared up when I read this. I'm so glad he can communicate and that he's less frustrated. It makes such a huge difference, doesn't it? Early intervention makes such a huge difference. Now he'll be able to enter school capable of communicating his needs and with pro-social behaviors he was able to learn since he's overcome his frustration. It's particularly impressive that he's not frustrated by taking extra time to generate expressive language. So many children get and stay upset when they can't do it fast enough to suit their needs. It's wonderful that he's willing to work through the extra steps he needs to access and articulate his thoughts. With practice the process will occur more rapidly. Yay, Jamie!
ReplyDeleteMost six-year olds are developmentally incapable of understanding sarcasm, let alone deploying it. You've got a precocious little bugger on your hands!