Not Good News For My Shaelyn

[a_loveless_gem]

Hi Danielle.

I'm sorry to hear about Shaelyn and that you are worrying about her. As others have said, children develop and different rates and are individuals. There is no right development scale. I don't have children of my own but I can only offer a story. I have to admit that I do not know of the situation. I offer this story to provide you some sort of hope of a happy ending, and hopefully ease some of your worrying.

There was a little girl who barely spoke when she started pre-school. It wasn't because she didn't know english, it wasn't because she was scared to. She simply had her own reasons. The teacher was worried and called in the parents. The parents were bemused and said that their little girl was intelligent and could speak. The teacher said that there was no evidence of the little girl talking.

So a series of sessions were held to teach the little girl to speak while her friends went out to play. It was decided that the little girl was slow at learning. The teacher wanted to hold the little girl back a year to allow for development. A meeting was held to discuss the future of the little girl. It was decided that she could move to the next grade level only if she started to speak. The parents explained this to their daughter as best they could. The little girl became worried and did speak. Not a lot, just a little. It was simply "Yes", "No", "Please" and "Thank you". It was just enough to allow her to proceed to grade school.

Throughout primary school, teachers were made aware that the girl was slow at learning. Though the quiet little girl made new friends and did well in school, often outdoing her peers. Yet, the teachers still had the thought in the back of their minds that this girl had learning difficulties as she always was confused about simple tasks or concepts.

The little girl grew up and became a young woman. She graduated high school in the top 5% of her year. Her parents were proud and she finally felt that she had proved her teachers wrong. She wasn't slow and she was as good as everyone else. She continued on to study at university where she now only has one more year before graduation.

The little girl in this story is me.

 

[adymarie]

Mags - you have a very heartwarming story. Thank you for sharing it!

 

[sammie5]

Keep thinking positive thoughts! Every child is precious, even children with problems.

My parents and teachers thought I was slow, turned out I had very very poor vision, and couldn't see the books they were showing me. I got glasses, and they couldn't stop me reading. Our next door neighbours had a boy who didn't talk until he was 4 1/2. The rest of us just guessed what he wanted, and looked after him. We all thought he was slow, turns out he was hard of hearing, and now works as a mechanical engineer in a nuclear plant. There is a huge number of reasons for a child to have delayed speech and delayed development, and all of them have remedies.

 

[jellybelly]

Originally posted by kimward34
ROTFLMAO! Cindy I spewed my coffee after reading this!! Too funny...

same here LOL!!! I know I've seen that quote somewhere but it is true LMAO!!!!

I also had the same problem, I could talk but didn't want to, with all the stuff that happened to me, and I couldn't see, had glasses at the age of 6

big freaking coke bottles LMAO!!!! With corrective shoes so that pretty much put me in the 'freak' category in elementary.

Like your story Loveless gem...very sweet

 

[tuxedokitties]

*hugs*

Excellent advice here from others.

Hang in there, and love her for who she is, don't let her be labeled.

 

[chelle]

{{{{{Hugs for you and Shaelyn}}}}}

 

[fluffy'smom]

Thank you all for your kind words.
Mags that is a amazing story!
I think i should clarify though: Shaelyn knows quite a few words but just does not put them together. She identfies pictures,knows her ABC's but bascially i can't have a conversation with her. Its very confusing i know. She will be going for blood tests to rule out anything else. Thanks

 

[missy&spikesmom]

I am so, so sorry that you are struggling with all of this. It is always a parent's biggest worry, about anything going wrong with their children. My youngest did not talk understandably, until she was well past age 3. She could say the alphabet, count to 20, but TRY to have a conversation with her? NOPE!!! Her sister and she did have this garbled sort of language they communicated in, and her older sister ALWAYS seemed to know EXACTLY what her little sister was saying. --And usually, the older one interpreted it as the younger one needing a cookie or a snack (hmmmmmm.....) then I'd ask the younger one, and she'd nod "yes"--so they'd BOTH get a snack or a cookie!

One day I brought her to the Pediatrician and he was evaluating her. The younger one was saying sylables and pointing and of course, the older one jumped up, ran across the exam room and picked up a toy for her little sister. The Pediatrician looked at me, and said, "Mom, there is "the problem" if that is what you want to call it! Big Sis is doing everything for her little sis, so no need for the little one to really HAVE to learn to speak yet!! She can just point and grunt!!! VERY soon, after that, my little one began to speak in phrases and then into sentences. But she did end up going to a speech therapist, from Kindergarten through 4th grade. I do hope this resolves itself very soon, as I KNOW it is very frightening as a parent, in situations of the "unknown".... {{HUGS}}

 

[kidsncats]

I'm in the same boat Fluffy's Mom. My 13 month old daughter has been seeing a physical therapist for about 3 months now. There is talk of bringing in an occupational therapist soon. Just hang in there. Samantha has actually made leaps and bounds in the past few months. They think she had sensitivity problems..meaning she didn't like certain sensations so avoided them. At 9 months she wasn't even turning over, now at 13 months she crawls, sits unassisted, and is pulling to stand. They're actually "keeping an eye" on her language development as well..she and her twin brother are behind..they aren't as concerned seeing as twins usually talk late(they have somebody that talks their language I guess). Anyway, point is you are a good Mom. I'm sure your little one will be up to speed soon.