Language has never been easy for Ian. When other three-year olds were effortlessly babbling about nursery school and cartoons, Ian had trouble pronouncing his own name. He could only call himself "E." He couldn't make it to the second syllable.

He had no control over his own mouth. He couldn't blow out candles on a birthday cake or form a kiss. He couldn't even say "mom." 

With massive amounts  of therapy and intensive efforts from home, he gradually learned how to talk. Very gradually. You hear about kids who have speech problems, who suddenly get it, and overnight talk like other kids. It wasn't like that with Ian. There have been little spurts here and there, but mostly language has been a steep uphill climb. 

We've been very tuned into his language development. For years, I would count the words in his sentences. Very slowly he moved from three word sentences to four and five to more. I noticed when he started using adverbs spontaneously. I did a dance when he asked a "why" question. 

Steps in language acquisition that other kids accordion into a few months and that fly by without notice, were major chapters in Ian's life. Adverbs, baby! 

Continue reading “The Next Level of Ian’s Language” →