Oct. 30, 2007
communication on the spectrum
My youngest son is such fun. I believe that he is on the autism spectrum, but I do not have an official diagnosis. But that is a post for another day.
He is definitely entertaining. He knows some sign language. And he makes up his own signs. He also knows a little Spanish. More than I know. And one of the things we do for fun around here is pick a word (like Hello) and then look up how it say it in lots of different languages.
Then of course…he has his own language. He just makes it up. I haven’t decided if he makes it up as he goes…or if he remembers it from day to day and is saying the same things.
So there are times when he is playing or trying to tell us something that he will use an amazing combination of all of these. Three or four signs mixed with Spanish and English and then Jarek language thrown in for color. It is quite interesting to say the least.
There are so many times that I must make him repeat himself about a million times, and then have his big brother translate for me. It can get frustrating for him to say the least. I am not certain that he realizes that he is doing it. And I must remind him that I don’t speak Jarek language….so he needs to talk in English.
Well I had an epiphany today. (amazing I know...hey...I'm still learning, too!) A lot of my frustration comes from telling Jarek the same thing over and over and over again, and then of course he still does the opposite of what I tell him.
So maybe…just maybe…when I tell him something in Mom language…his brain is trying to translate into Jarek language, or sign or Spanish, or some combination of the above.
And maybe…it somehow gets lost in the translation. Sometimes it seems like he is purposefully disobeying me. It seems like he is defying me just for spite.
But maybe….he just really can’t understand what I am telling him to do.
So my prayer is that God will give me the patience and understanding to learn to speak Jarek language.
Comments
Oct. 30, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by 2peter318
Hmmm, that is such a thought provoking entry. My son has been diagnosed with autism spectrum, he's 10yo. He was diagnosed at 3 1/2. Anyway, I can completely relate to the not listening. Though I can't say that Paulie has a Paulie language, I do know he thinks things through differently than I would. I need to learn to not get so frustrated with him when it seems like he's not listening. Thank you so much for the thoughts. I am definitely taking this in prayer and seeing where the Lord leads. :)
JoAnn
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Nov. 1, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by 40winkzzz
Yes, I have to pray abt my frustration level w/Spaz, too-- altho in this case, as you probably remember, it is an ADHD issue & not an autism issue. And I remember that you have the ADHD issues with one son as well, but I don't remember whether it is Jarek or Jake. I am reading a really good book right now called "Healing ADD" by Dr. Daniel Amen. I HIGHLY recommend it. Also starting myself on ADD meds, and will soon be starting Spaz again-- the ritalin did not work too well, and Dr says Adderall should work better for him -- I just have to get around to mkg the appt. Anyway, thought I'd keep you posted since I know you are interested in this as well.
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Nov. 13, 2007 - Thanks...
Posted by 40winkzzz
...for your comment on my Lewis & Clark post! I hate it when I write something and nobody comments on it, so I'm glad someone finally did. :-) (I definitely have to work at getting more traffic to my blog...) I have to tell you, too, that the next day, when we did the rest of our Lewis & Clark stuff as mentioned in the post, did NOT go well! I was going to blog abt that too, just for balance, but it was a busy weekend and I didn't get a chance to. Pictures of the maps, well, I did take a couple, but they have yet to travel from my camera to my computer, and from there they'd have to go to photobucket and then to the blog... so don't hold your breath! As it is, I am a day late (and counting) with my final birthday post of the year, which I haven't time to compose tonight either. I'm off to look up kids' Bible-reading plans for Kids' Club tomorrow night, as well as printing up my kids' indy work lists for tomorrow...
PS- I tried once to comment on your post before this one ("If it isn't on the test, I don't want to hear about it!"), but couldn't get thru for some reason. Anyway, the thought was there!
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