Defying Gravity

I have mentioned before that when Ethan was tested for autism, they explored 3 areas....social interaction, communication/speech, and behavior/interests. A lot of people will tell me that their child isn't speaking as much or at all in comparison to their peers, and they want to know if I think they should have them tested for autism. Well, speech is only one area........you need to look at the other areas & see if there are any red flags as well.

I talk a lot about how occupational therapy has helped Ethan's behaviors and therefore affecting his speech & social interactions because it allows him to focus longer on learning such things. However, Ethan has been in speech therapy for almost a year now. And there are no words to explain how much he has grown in this area. At the age of 2, Ethan said only a few words but mostly it was animal sounds. He loves animals. I can remember that most of my mom friends with children Ethan's age were talking about how they get tired of hearing from their children "Mom, mom, mom, mom...." all day long. And I remember thinking how much I would love that problem. At the age of 2, Ethan had only called me mom twice.

I have TONS of stories about Ethan's speech development, and how EVERY DAY he says something "new". When I say new, I mean something he has come up with himself. He is excellent at what they call "rote" responses. Examples: Shapes, colors, 1+1=2, spelling, reading, etc......things that are always the same. Or he will memorize a script & repeat it during his playtime. Currently, his favorite thing to repeat is Mickey's 3 Mousekateers. It cracks me up because in the show they talk about something not happening due to someone's incompetence. It makes me laugh to see him using such big words that he doesn't understand. So funny.

But the other day, my little family was going somewhere in our van, and we were listening to one of Ethan's music CDs. My husband & I were talking about something, and from the back we hear, "Mom, different song please." WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!????????????? He used my name!!!!!! And not in a way that we have "trained" him, such as, "I love you, Ethan. I love you too, Mom." This was BRAND NEW!!!!! AND the "different song" was new too! Normally, if he doesn't have the words, he will whine/cry/meltdown until we can figure out what is wrong & then try and give him the words to say. (PS....it's really strange to teach your kid to tell YOU "no"...when I would tell him to do something, he would meltdown. So, I had to teach him to use his words. "I don't want to do that".....'course.....then I would say, "Well, I'm sorry but you have to do it".....so strange.)

Last night, Ethan was playing with his cars, and he brought one over to me, looked me square in the eyes, and said, "I see a Lowe's on this car." WOW!!!!!! Normally, he would have said, "I see a Lowe's car." There were more articles in his new sentence!!!!! I'm so excited. Literally, EVERY DAY he is saying something new, and I could go on & on. Quickly, another favorite is when my husband & Ethan are chasing each other around the house, Ethan has started saying, "I'm gonna getcha! Ethan's gonna getcha!"......so cute!!!!!!

Again, these may seem insignificant to most people, but they are HUGE steps for us....and he's only 3 years old! To be honest, I was nervous about Ethan going to preschool everyday even though it's only for a couple of hours. But, he LOVES it, and his talking/comprehending has increase so much since he started in August. In fact, last night during bath time, my husband & I lovingly called Ethan our little chatter box!!!! He was talking non-stop!!!! It was great!!!!!!

I have this snip-it of a magazine article on my refrigerator, and I read it often. I totally describes Ethan. It was an article in AllYou magazine, and it was a focus on 3 mothers of special needs kiddos. I cut out a section from one mother's interview..........

"The world would have us believe that being different means you are somehow not perfect. But I have learned that by regarding my daughter as "differently-abled" rather than disabled, I can really see all that she has to give. My life may not look like what I once considered to be perfect, but it is often better. Watching my daughter grow & learn reminds me of something that I once read about bumblebees. Myth has it that, according to the laws of aerodynamics, they shouldn't be able to fly. But the bumblebee doesn't know that....it just flies. Like the bumblebee, my daughter (and Ethan) doesn't know she is not "supposed" to fly. But she does."

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!