I haven't been to active in my journal over the past few days. I really haven't been neglecting my thoughts; I've been fighting a fairly nasty sinus infection. I could have gone to the doctor, but I didn't. I knew what he was going to say, so I just rode this one out. It pretty much boils down to the fact that I was just plain stubborn on this one, and I'm getting tired of doctors (no disrespect intended to any of them).We had another meeting with the child psychologist last night. We've been working through her and the early interventionist for over six months now, and she (they) was pleased with my son's progress. At two years of age, he only said two words and was inconsistent at that. After six months of early intervention, his vocabulary increased to 65 words!! This is a true testament to how affective early intervention can be. That and a true desire to see your child succeed. My son is getting a little better at functional language, but it's mainly done by "parroting" something he's heard me or my wife say. But hey, at least it's something, and I will take anything I can get. Labeling, expressing, and understanding emotions still presents quite a challenge to him. I think he can do one, sometimes, but he seems to get mixed up when it comes to combining two or three at a time. He can combine them occasionally, but not with any real consistency. When he does, however, it is quite an experience.The child psychologist said he's made his largest improvement in reciprocating play and talking. She made so many complimentary remarks about how well my wife and I are doing with our son, which she said, is really facilitating his improvement. I'm not the type of person to seek compliments, but it feels really good to hear things like that. It really makes all the hard work seem worth it, but I also have to keep reminding myself that all the work is for my son and not my ego.Seeing my son grow and develop, however, is the greatest validation possible, but having other people notice makes it that much better. Seeing him grow, develop, and learn new things adds to my appreciation and love for him, if that is even possible! I often have difficulties being able to fully describe the love and compassion I feel towards my son. I know it's there; I feel and experience it on a daily, an hourly basis. Friends of mine who do not have children sometimes ask me what it's like to be a parent. The answer to this question is easy to understand within yourself, but I find it difficult to verbally express. What I do tell them is that you can never understand the love of a parent until you become a parent yourself, especially the parent of a special needs child.
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Sometimes it\'s hard to see just how much progress you have made until someone who isn\'t around your son every day points it out to you. You are doing a great job. It\'s hard, but it will get easier once the language comes and he gets a bit older. There will always be challenges, but for me, nothing was as hard as the first few years.
you sound like a terrific dad to me, my daughter died two years wednesday just gone, she lost her battle with leukemia, miss her every single day, nice to hear you are being brave and possitive
I always enjoy your journal. I get so much encouragment from your love for your son and how you express yourself.
My son did a lot of paroting, and later they called it \"learned speech\". He used sentences appropriately, but only used sentences he had learned from us. Then he start to find his own words and that is where my sons studdering has started. Each day is a new thing and every moment is a new learning experience. Your words express my love for my son... I think only another parent can truly understand how that little person is such a big force in our lives. God Bless!