Heartwarming :)

Success Stories from specialchild.com

My daughter, Aimee, is autistic. She didn’t talk and would not give me any eye contact. I had traveled to visit my mother, and before I left, I had purchased pull-ups for nighttime, but I forgot to bring them.

It was evening and Aimee had some orange juice. She gave me the sign language for more. I then said (more or less to myself rather than her), "Oh, I forgot the pull-ups. I’m afraid if you have too much to drink you’ll wet the bed. I should’ve brought them." She continued to sign "more." I continued to mutter. Finally, she looked me in the eyes, and fervently said, "I," pointing to herself, "want more," giving sign for more, "or-ange juice, please." Needless to say she got her juice! - L.T., Hamilton, NJ

***

I am not a parent, but a proud older sister of a 15-year-old brother who is blind and autistic. As a child, Meir would constantly get upset when something would bother him. Getting upset included screaming uncontrollably and getting completely out of hand. With the loving and constant guidance of my parents, Meir (even though he has a long way to go), expresses himself way better than before. - S.S., Brooklyn, NY

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My youngest son, Brayden, was born three months premature with heart and brain defects. He is now 4 ?years old. He is multi-handicapable. When he was young, the doctors told us he probably wouldn't survive, much less ever sit, walk, talk, or eat. He began eating orally a year and a half ago. He began talking one year ago, and is now nearly age appropriate in expressive communication! The most exciting accomplishment, however, is his walking. He had a bilateral tendon release on his hamstrings and gastrocs last November. Since recovering from the surgery, he began pulling to stand, cruising furniture, and could take up to 6 independent steps, even without his walker! Only other parents of children with special needs can understand the intense emotion that surrounds such feats!

Now, he is walking around the house with little assistance and now able to squat to pick something up and stand up again without help!! I cannot wait for the day that he can walk up to those nay-saying doctors and show them who is really in charge!! - J.B., Bartlesville, OK

'JIEJIE'

Eugene who only know how to pronounce 'papa',
who should be saying 200words by now,

called me 'jiejie' on Sunday, 10th June 2007!!!!

:D

he has improved alot cos he went to visit speech therapist:)

can you feel the joy?

Disorder VS Delay

The order in which children learn speech sounds and language forms is fairly predictable. Most children follow the same pattern of development. When a child is developing skills in this order but is doing it more slowly, he/she has a speech/language delay. Sometimes child does not have the same speech or language skills as other children his/her age and is not just slow in developing. They have gaps in development - they may have some skills that are age-appropriate but are missing some that should have been learned when they were younger. They may say use some sounds or forms that are unusual and never used by any child at any age. This is considered a disorder.

high expectations for children with special needs?

'Setting high, but realistic expectations, is a sign of respect for our children. Just because they have special needs does not mean that they cannot be expected to do anything.'

extracted from Raising Sebastien, Realising the Potential of your Autistic Child by Choo Kah Ying