For 6 years, almost
every night, I would dream that Abdullah started talking and finally one day he
did....
When your child is talking and expressing his feelings and
needs, it is a blessing. But with special needs that is not the case. We celebrate
our smallest successes that are not even realized in normal world. Talking,
eating every food, realizing potential danger, chewing on food are just a few
examples. I realized that when Abdullah did not spoke for 6 years. He babbled
and stimmed but was unable to talk.
It was a dream that one day he will talk. His speech
therapist once said that Abdullah said" ch" for chips, but he didn't
said that once in front of me. I thought she is just making up or confusing
some other sounds with "ch".
We started PECS with Abdullah, he started communicating by
exchanging pictures. He understood that by giving a specific picture card
i will be able to get that thing. It was a small but a strong step towards
communication. I brought him loads of books with pictures and he started
building his receptive language. Every time, He would walk to me, would point
to a picture and I used to tell him the name of that object, 50 times a day.
Slowly, Abdullah started speaking unclear words. I used to
watch him as he sat alone and started producing some phonics of nursery rhymes.
I used to make a list of Alphabets, whose sounds he could produce and then I
made flash cards of objects starting with those letters.
The words were unclear and he usually could not pronounce
some phonics. I had to break the words in to syllables and then tell him
slowly.
Abdullah used to say the word repeatedly until he could be
able to produce it correctly. That was the strength he had and it benefited him
as a learner and me as a teacher.
Today, Abdullah is able to speak with clarity, he can relate
things correctly but the reciprocity in communication is still missing. He can
say difficult words by breaking them in syllables.
Do not be disappointed by the pace with which your child is
making progress. He is trying, coping and pushing himself to overcome the
difficulties he is facing. Being parents, it is our foremost duty to help our
children in whatever way we can, respecting their pace and growth.
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