Communication is the Key

January 28, 2009
As Jaden gets more acclimated and excels in her therapies, I've noticed her babbling A LOT. Clear vowel, double-consonant sounds, but always babble. She's been doing this consistently for a few weeks now and we're very relieved because the lack of communication has been extremely frustrating for her, to the point of uncontrollable anguish. So I hear her constantly "talking" in the backgroud and will often, mindlessly, talk back to her to keep her going. We were doing this yesterday when,

"Kee Kee"

"Heeya"

"Baw"

I whipped my head around to see Jaden handing a ball to Mikey. "Mikey. Here. Ball." I'm definitely going to start truly listening now.

Speaking of communicating with a little one, Mike and I make a point of going to all first specialist visits together, as was the case for Jaden's first Occupational Therapy appointment 2 weeks ago. Mikey in tow, we were led to a huge room full of gym equipment, bins of beans & balls, toys, ropes, swings, etc. I think it was called the Sensory Room. Right inside the door was a small open space, perfect for Mikey to quietly play with his train set while we followed Jaden and her OT around.

A few minutes into the appointment, another therapist in the room came over to me, gestured towards Mikey and snapped, "Is he a patient?" "No but both parents are here for our daughter's evaluation." "Then he needs to leave." (I swear on my hampster's grave she had fangs.) "No, he will not leave because we need to be here for our daughter's evalution and I will not have him sit in the lobby by himself. So, no. I'm sorry but nobody is leaving." and I went back to observing Jaden. Ms. Sour OT literally "Hmmmphfft", turned on her heels and stomped out. (Pretty funny since 'Does your child stomp' was on the sensory questionaire.)

I walked over to Mikey and whispered to him that he should maybe be a little more quiet. "But why do the other kids get to play and I can't?" "Well, they have some problems and the doctors are trying to help them." (What else do you say to a 4 year old????) He looked down sadly and said, "OK, Mommy". I patted his head and went back across the vast room to join Jaden in progress.

No sooner than I sat down, Ms. Sour OT walked in with her 6-7 year old patient. Cute as a button, this little boy clearly had issues as he bounded in, yelling and wildly swinging his arms. "MOM. MOM" I looked over at Mikey. "IS THIS BOY A SICKO?" (Stinkin' SpongeBob. I blame everything bad on SB even though it's not watched in our house). I cringed and tried to crawl inside myself as Mike got up and said, "We'll be in the lobby."