Words

Little Brother has been working throughout the summer with his speech teacher. He wakes up early three days a week to ‘work’. We’ve seen such a tremendous change in the clarity and pronunciation of so many words that he has struggled with. It’s hard not to get choked up when I see him no longer having to work so hard. Sometimes I can’t, especially when I see him on the playground with kids who don’t know him, when they get him he lights up with pride. The last two years I watched him feel like he was different and shy away from making friends. The worst was when kids would loudly say, “what’s wrong with him” or “why does he talk like that” and tease him. All it would take is one child to note to their peers that Little Brother couldn’t speak as well as they could for him to be singled out. I am so happy for him now that he doesn’t worry about that so much. He is still very guarded around new kids because of those experiences. When he comes out of his shell and is successfully understood I can see his self-confidence and self-esteem skyrocket. He will come up to me and whisper, “They get me” and then run back to play with his newly made friends. 

I have always listened to what little brother has had to say. It is a big deal for us to know every single word he shares with us. He knows the difference between us ‘getting it’ and not quite. He must be an excellent reader of not only the tone of our voice but our facial expressions too. Because there have been times that I didn’t understand something and he was on to me immediately. I was attempting not to let him down but I can’t hide anything from him. A new thing he has started is telling me,” I’m a mean mommy” and “He doesn’t love me” when I tell him to eat his veggies or clean up his toys. I have to say along with his triumphs in the language department he has now found new uses for his precious words.