Thursday, May 29, 2008

Becoming Fairly Noticeable

After church the other day one of the volunteers in the nursery asked if she could speak to me about Damien. We've been having some MAJOR Al Bundy moments going on, constantly pulling his hand out of his pants so I figured for sure it was that but surprisingly it wasn't. It was however his speech that the lady had noticed and she wanted to ask me if I was getting him any help. She works for Early HeadStart and said he could probably get into their program automatically but I let her know that he indeed is getting help from the Early Intervention center in town.

I'm not stupid. I know Damien is WAY behind (9 month speech level) I realize that people see how big he is and that he can't speak a single word. I realize he drools and spits when he does muster anything besides momma and dadda. I know his tongue sticks out a bit more than a normal kid. I guess this would be the first time however I felt like I was put on the spot like I wasn't helping the poor kid. I had some shirts made for Dominic a year ago and maybe I should do the same for Damien to announce that yes I am fully aware of his problems. Dominic has shirts that say "I have ADHD, what's your excuse?" and "I don't act like this at home."

Anyways- I hope I wasn't too defensive. I told her he has Speech Apraxia with severe tongue thrust and it could be years before he spoke any words. She then told me he needed to learn sign language. (sigh) I know she meant well but I hate when people I don't even know try giving me their opinions like I have no freakin clue! Anyone else been there done that?

6 comments:

Bird's Eye View Photography said...

Oh I am so sorry- Yes. I hate when people try to tell me something about my children-- like I don't KNOW everything already?

ARG!

S said...

People just try to be helpful but really they should keep their mouth shut! When my twin died people actually told my mom "well at least you have the other one" Oh shut up you dumb ass!

Lucia's Mom said...

I also hate people like that .... but, maybe sign language might be a good idea? (don't hate me!) Or maybe you're doing some signs already? I forget.

It's essentially a second language and there's a girl in my church who's deaf (a baby) and I was thinking how cute it could be if Lucia could talk to her a little bit with signs. Imagine having only very few people you could communicate with, and that little deaf girl is going to have that her whole life.

Sabrina said...

Cristen- I have tried with Damien. I started when he was around 2 but it's just a joke. He laughs but occasionally I can get him to sign drink. The easiest thing for me to do is ask YES or NO questions (I pray no SLP stumbles on this!!!) We both get so frustrated especially in the kitchen. Think going to China, not knowing the language and trying to order food.

Sheri- that is completely ignorant. Makes me sick your mom actually had to hear that. People are so stupid!

Katie- I read your blog today! I am so sorry about the inlaws. I saw that on the news the other day but had no idea your inlaws actually lived there! Hugs!!

Kris said...

Uggh.. Sorry! That's just not right.

Kristi Ann said...

HUGS!