Imagine that I am whispering. If it wouldn’t be annoying I would type this in a teeny font.
Elliot is talking.
Actually, let me say this… ELLIOT IS TALKING! That’s right, I went all caps lock.
Still, I am afraid of saying too much too soon. If you can think of anyone for whom hubris worked out be sure to let me know.
For so long it was a whole lot of not much. Then suddenly it was “school bus” and “walrus” and “palm tree.” It was as if he got his teeth into a simple sentence or two and was thrilled by the effects of his communication. Now he can identify all the letters in the alphabet and the sounds they make. Now he can say the names of all the Pixar Cars.
His speech therapist told me how worried they were when they met him. She felt he was likely autistic. He scored below the first percentile on expressive language. I didn’t even know that was possible. I spent weeks researching. A guy on a plane told me about a special school in Atlanta, just for boys with language problems. I took notes.
Now, I don’t know what to think. His speech is still hard to understand. His therapist wants to keep him. It’s obviously helping and he loves going. That’s an easy decision.
She says the average 2-year-old has about 200 words. Elliot has more than that now. Can you believe it? Because I cannot. I swear they all came in a rush… 5, 10, 15 new words a day.
All I’ve wanted is for him to catch up to where he should be. I know that some people (who love us and are awesome) will celebrate that he appears to be “normal” now. I think it’s too soon to draw conclusions. And Elliot has always been as normal as he needs to be. I’m not any happier with him now. But happy for him? My heart sings.
jaysaint 
Posted by Brian Patrick Flynn on August 18, 2011 at 10:08 am
This is WONDERFUL. Do you think, perhaps, he’s also just uber-observational in general? He seems to always be totally taking in what’s going on around him; perhaps he’s just constantly sponging it all up to later put it to good use verbally? Plus, words like walrus and palm tree are especially tough to pronounce. It’s kinda HUGE that he’s churning those suckers out, right? My 4-year-old nephew, Brennan, still pronounces my name “BWY ihn” and I totally love it. – Meansanta
Posted by jaysaint on August 18, 2011 at 10:48 am
To be fair, it’s “pom twee” and “wawuf.” but this morning he counted to 9, so clearly he is a genius.
Posted by S. on August 22, 2011 at 1:55 pm
To be fair, most little kids say “pom twee” and “wawuf,” even six- and seven-year-olds.
I’m tickled bright orange for him!
Posted by Mariana on August 18, 2011 at 12:51 pm
My neighbors little boy (Smith) is 2 and 9 months and he has just started to speak (in the past 2-3 months). It’s getting easier to understand but at first it was kinda a language of his own. They were not very concerned because his big sister
did not speak until she was 3. So if Elliot is anything like Smith be prepared because now he’s ALWAYS talking!!
Posted by katie allison granju on August 24, 2011 at 11:08 am
I cried when I read this.
xo
Posted by Speech Therapy, Twice Weekly « jaysaint on August 28, 2011 at 11:50 am
[…] asked myself, considering, if we really need to be going to speech therapy two times a week. It takes a hunk out of my work […]