I feel pretty discouraged lately. I know I shouldn't be. I know it will come. But the language and verbal skill delays are getting to me. I know it's getting old for Kendall and Seren too. They try to tell me what they want and I have no idea what they are getting at, even though I guess and try to make sense of it. I have them show me and sometimes that still doesn't help. They throw more tantrums lately, especially Kendall. I know that is typical of their age but I also think such a huge part is this inability to communicate with each other. And I have no idea what to do beyond what we do and try to do. We read to them, we talk about what we're doing, we ask questions, we practice sounds, we sing, we try to repeat or make words out of the stuff that does come out of their mouth. And I swear to you I see little improvement. Seren is starting to try to repeat words sometimes but Kendall doesn't seem to want to talk. I try to talk to her and practice words with Kendall and she won't look at me. And it's not like I'm frustrated or sounding frustrated with her. She is just so occupied with other things (sometimes just looking at her feet) that she doesn't focus or listen. I just feel so negative about it all. I thought teaching your kid(s) to talk was supposed to come easy and it's a huge challenge for me. I just want things to start clicking and it feels like I'm banging my head against a brick wall.
We have our Early Intervention meeting tomorrow. A meeting to go over a plan, goals and paperwork. No actual help as far as I know at this point. It just seems like even the help we're supposed to be getting with this is taking forever. Now I know why people get so frustrated with the system. It runs on an entirely different clock. I wanted help with this yesterday (okay a month and a half ago) and still feel blocked in. And it just feels like the longer it takes to get help with Kendall (maybe even a little with Seren) the further behind she is going to fall. And the further behind things get the more of a failure I feel like. Like I'm failing her. Maybe it's just my inner demons telling me that but it's how I feel right now. I just want it to help and for things to get better.
3 comments:
Sorry that you are dealing with all of this. I have witnessed first-hand how frustrating speech delays can be for both parents and kids.
I know I sound like a broken record, but really, truly, it will come. I really think that we spent so much time trying to figure out what they were saying, that they had less incentive to try and talk with us!
I think I have said this before, but I want to reiterate it. My boys said hardly anything before the age of 2. Suddenly almost on their 2nd birthday they started talking. At least saying a few words. Then it has just progressed from there.
I still think of them as having a speech delay, however. Even at three, they have a hard time forming all the words and ideas they want to say. But I realized now that they are in preschool, that almost all the other kids do the same thing! I guess I thought that once they started speaking, they would automatically start stringing together complex sentences!
Also, I have looked back at some videos from just before the boys started really talking. I would have sworn to you that they were only saying gibberish. But knowing how they speak now, I realize that some of the verbalizations they were making were their best attempt at words. I can actually hear it now!
Please don't be too disheartened. You have spectacularly intelligent girls and they have a lot to say, they will just do it in their own time. And think about it from their perspective, who needs to talk when you have such a fantastic Mom and Dad reading and talking to them! LOL!
Thanks Brenda :) I know I sound very much like a broken record myself. I really appreciate your comments and continual comments on the subject. I hope to have a more positive outlook and to relax about it once I know what we'll be working on and maybe have some ideas from E.I. to help. Thank you thank you thank you though. I really does help to know that someone has been here and knows just what it's like and that it gets better.
I'm glad I could be somewhat helpful. Don't hesitate to leave a note on my blog or to email me if you just want to talk/complain/commiserate. :D
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