#Autism and problems with communication is one of the absolute toughest parts of this whole special needs parenting thing, at least for me.
Of my three boys on the spectrum, Emmett is by far the most difficult to communicate with. While he has made great strides in the speech and language department, he is still severely speech and language delayed.
Expressive language is the biggest struggle at this point. He knows what he wants but he can’t express it very well. He’s very difficult to understand and it requires a great deal of guess work. It’s frustrating for him and it’s frustrating for us. Not being able to effectively communicate is something that most people could never understand.
I wanted to give you a chance to step into my shoes. See the challenges that families like mine face. See how frustrating it is for my youngest when he can’t communicate effectively. It’s frustrating for everyone involved.
I want to help you to understand what it’s like to be faced with things like this. This video is just a few minutes of what Lizze and I face, every single day. It’s what Emmett is faced with…
[youtube width=”720″ height=”480″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFkyWwinOho[/youtube]
This is exactly like watching my 2.5 year old. She doesn't have nearly as much language (only 2 word phrases right now) but this type of frustration is what I deal with constantly. She knows exactly what she wants, but can't effectively explain it to me, then when I don't get it right, she melts down. She does keep trying to let me know and usually I figure it out, but sadly there are occasions where I simply don't know what she is trying to tell me.
The other day it was over a cup. A few weeks ago I had to put some medicine in one of her cups and she was very upset about it. Then the other day I tried to give her almond milk in that same cup. She screamed her little head off for 15 minutes until I figured out what was wrong. She remembered that she didn't like how the milk tasted when it was in that cup. *sigh* She was throwing the cup at me and saying "NO!" But I just couldn't put it together. Hopefully as they get older they will get better at communicating and this will ease some of the frustration. Good luck to Emmet! He seems to have a lot of good language forming.
My recent post One Little Blue Line.
Wow…Emmett is so adorable. How I miss working with and teaching these phenomenal children. You are doing an exceptional job with him! Emmett will excel in language and expressive skills. No worries here. He is determined to get his point across and as long as he has the desire to do so things will get better. It just takes time. I can empathize with your frustrations, raising a autistic child can be extremely difficult. …But, there are those special moments when a break through occurs and its the greatest high in the world. It makes everything worth while. Autism is a subject near and dear to my heart as I have several friends who have children with autism. I am currently raising money for autism awareness through Autism Speaks. I've designed t-shirts to sell to aide me in my fundraising crusade. When you get a moment check them out. I'm not soliciting, only looking for feedback. Good bless your family and Emmett.
And also, btw…i went to art college for 3 years and personally I thought your drawings were great! I think its more of a case of not being able to match whats in their minds eye! ? :/ an almost impossible task when you think about it, it would definitely help if you were a mind reader! haha, but If it helps I think youre doing a great job as you obviously try your best by all your boys! What more can you do! ? 🙂
Oh my goodness, the frustration! Oh so familiar to me too! He is absolutely adorable though bless his little heart. <3 And btw, you are fantastic with him! 🙂
Thank you 🙂
I realized i don't see through his eyes what his view on a drawling should be n maybe never will.
Can't convince *
I have been through the exact thing. It was always animals, dinosaurs, or cartoon characters. And my drawing abilities aren't that good i couldn't even draw a rabbit to please him. It was always something so detailed like a t-rex or even sponge bob wasn't ever how he pictured it to be. As he got older in school even now in 5th grade he draws on his school work front and back. I rent how to draw books at the library that go step by step . Even tracing helps him. But i feel your struggle. You handled it better than I did. Some days i would cry cuz i didn't understand what he wanted n he cried cuz i wasn't doing it right. I hope he becomes an independent drawler like my son cuz my son realized moms not doing it the way he wanted so now he is like fine ill do it myself and he draws ten times better than me. But still gets hard on hisself like its not good enough and im not lying when i say his drawings are awesome you can convince them anything.
Thanks for sharing.. Looks like a 5 minute video of my day… except my son is still in diapers.
I cried when I saw that. I cried because I would give just about anything for my youngest to communicate with me that much. Emmett's face showed so much emotion. He was so motivated to keep trying to get what he wanted. He will succeed definitely. You are so helpful to him, and I might add that you are a very good artist!
My nine-year old just comes up and says flatly: "Draw a car". "Draw a bus". His speech is so limited and it takes so much to get anything expressive out of him except anger. I know it is taxing, it would be for me, but your son is going to get what he needs and that is a very good thing.