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Special Needs
My son has been diagnosed with speech and social delays. He's 3 and starting to talk a bit now (so fun!) I've never been worried per se, because I didn't talk till I was 3 or 4 either and I'm quite verbal now. But I came across the book "Einstein Syndrome: Bright Kids Who Talk Late" (can't remember author) and it followed two studies of children who had remarkable similarities in their family history - lots of professional muscians and engineers int he immediate family, amazing math and musical abiltiies, etc. Obviously this set of conditions (bright and late talking) is named after Albert Einstein, who didn't converse fully until the age of 6.
I just wondered if any else here has a special needs child, and what kind of resources you use to help your child and your family with these. Ethan is in the Exceptional Early Learning Program (EELP) at the local elementary school, and he gets individual speech therapy there four days a week, as well as interaction with other children his age with developmental delays. I find Ethan's special needs and exceptional abilities (he can master ANY lock, childproof or otherwise and has an amazing memory for directions) cause me to be a more creative parent. I also feel really lucky in a lot of ways, because I feel like I've had extra time to prepare for the big questions and decide how I want to parent/teach him about the world. Does anyone else have an alternately developing child, and what do you find is the best hidden advantage of this, if any?
I just wondered if any else here has a special needs child, and what kind of resources you use to help your child and your family with these. Ethan is in the Exceptional Early Learning Program (EELP) at the local elementary school, and he gets individual speech therapy there four days a week, as well as interaction with other children his age with developmental delays. I find Ethan's special needs and exceptional abilities (he can master ANY lock, childproof or otherwise and has an amazing memory for directions) cause me to be a more creative parent. I also feel really lucky in a lot of ways, because I feel like I've had extra time to prepare for the big questions and decide how I want to parent/teach him about the world. Does anyone else have an alternately developing child, and what do you find is the best hidden advantage of this, if any?
Tags: delay, einstein, needs, parenting, special, speech, therapy
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dawn K on -
I'm not in that situation, but I've heard other parents who are say similar things about their SN kids keeping them more creative and finding other ways of doing things. I can tell from your posts that you are definitely a creative "outside the box" parent. Ethan is lucky to have you (BTW, awesome name. I have an Ethan too).
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Permalink Reply by Angie Jackson on -
Aw thanks so much Dawn! I like to say that Ethan "thinks sideways of the world" like his momma. He's such a neat kid and does things his own way. Like reading the right page of a book before the left (I cannot convince him to do this the other way lol)
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Permalink Reply by vivian on -
Wow, he sounds like an amazing kid! He may be quiet now, but with family history that you described, it doesn't sound like you should worry too much. As long as he's happy and enjoying life like a normal 3 year old, then he'll probably be more than fine when he gets older.
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Permalink Reply by Angie Jackson on
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Yeah he's my McGuyver meets James Bond meets Houdini escape-artist.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer spinney gutierrez on -
so agree that using a special needs kid does give you a new perspective on the world. It's a good thing in many ways. Your son sounds very similar to my younger brother (he is much younger, my mom was pregnant with him when I was in my first year of college). Nathan communicated by written word before he spoke so conversations with him at three involved lots of paper and pencils. I think having a child like this helps change your perception on what it means to communicate because you learn to focus on nonverbal forms of conversation. Then you start to realize how many people talk a lot without really saying anything at all:)
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer spinney gutierrez on
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Using special needs? I meant having special needs!
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Permalink Reply by Angie Jackson on
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I made "I want..." flash cards for Ethan when he was about one. They had things like a picture of puppets for "I wanna watch Baby Einsteins!" or a sippy cup for "I want soy milk" He was really good at using them to communicate non-verbally.
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