Soren is now two and a half and still can't talk. Strike that, he won't talk, at least not in English. He does talk non stop, and he's quite understandable if you speak HIS language. He has an amazing language all his own, which family and friends alike have dubbed Sorenese. Most people who don't know Soren very well believe the he must have some issues, some impairment the does not allow him to use the English vocabulary. Those who do know him well laugh their ass off at this suggestion, knowing very well that he could if he wanted to. The key phrase here is if he wanted to. And he has made it abundantly clear that he does not. Despite concentrated efforts in trying to get him to use real words like cat or dog, he uses equally concerted efforts to teach everyone else the Sorenese version of these words.
Our Pediatrician suggested that we have CDSA come out and evaluate him, just in case there was something going on. Having had a child who needed speech therapy, (Ashe, for Apraxia) comparing the two kids I honestly didnt think Soren had an issue. I think it was just my genetic stubborn trait shining through. But after discussing with J a time table in which Soren learned to talk, and passing that time table with no results in English, we decided to call them and see what they said.
As fate always decrees, the moment you make a call like that, things start to ramp up. I had recently gotten Soren potty trained using M&Ms as a reward. He was fully trained in two weeks. One day I got the idea to see if his favorite candy would also prevail in getting him to talk. If I was right, and he was just being stubborn, it should be easy. If he couldnt even with the carrot on a stick attempt, then I knew we had a problem, and calling CDSA was the right decision.
Yeah. In one week I got him to spell SUPER MARIO, say I love you, please, and thank you. BLESS you M&Ms! ( I now keep a giant stash on hand in case the boys need a goodbribe reward).
CDSA still came over and they brought a speech pathologist to test him. In order to be considered for the program he had to fail certain tests. He didn't. In fact, he aced them with flying colors. The only issue was verbal expression and even that did not score low enough. The speech pathologist did mention that it was very uncommon for non twin children to develop their own language, and he was convinced that Soren was unique in this aspect. I told him about my M&M trick and he felt that while he could do well with speech therapy, M&Ms would work well too.
It was nice to know we're not dooming our child, and that he really can talk if he wanted to, but chooses to have his own enriched language. I also know that when he starts to really talk, there will be plenty of times I will wish he would just shut up for a bit. So Im not going to push his language. I'll offer him treats once in awhile, but Im pretty sure that by the time he hits kindergarten this will all be forgotten.
Either that or he will start teaching his classmates and teacher a new language. And that's not all that bad, to be considered bilingual at age 5 ;)
Our Pediatrician suggested that we have CDSA come out and evaluate him, just in case there was something going on. Having had a child who needed speech therapy, (Ashe, for Apraxia) comparing the two kids I honestly didnt think Soren had an issue. I think it was just my genetic stubborn trait shining through. But after discussing with J a time table in which Soren learned to talk, and passing that time table with no results in English, we decided to call them and see what they said.
As fate always decrees, the moment you make a call like that, things start to ramp up. I had recently gotten Soren potty trained using M&Ms as a reward. He was fully trained in two weeks. One day I got the idea to see if his favorite candy would also prevail in getting him to talk. If I was right, and he was just being stubborn, it should be easy. If he couldnt even with the carrot on a stick attempt, then I knew we had a problem, and calling CDSA was the right decision.
Yeah. In one week I got him to spell SUPER MARIO, say I love you, please, and thank you. BLESS you M&Ms! ( I now keep a giant stash on hand in case the boys need a good
CDSA still came over and they brought a speech pathologist to test him. In order to be considered for the program he had to fail certain tests. He didn't. In fact, he aced them with flying colors. The only issue was verbal expression and even that did not score low enough. The speech pathologist did mention that it was very uncommon for non twin children to develop their own language, and he was convinced that Soren was unique in this aspect. I told him about my M&M trick and he felt that while he could do well with speech therapy, M&Ms would work well too.
It was nice to know we're not dooming our child, and that he really can talk if he wanted to, but chooses to have his own enriched language. I also know that when he starts to really talk, there will be plenty of times I will wish he would just shut up for a bit. So Im not going to push his language. I'll offer him treats once in awhile, but Im pretty sure that by the time he hits kindergarten this will all be forgotten.
Either that or he will start teaching his classmates and teacher a new language. And that's not all that bad, to be considered bilingual at age 5 ;)
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