Happy Birthday to my amazing son, Sean! He is ELEVEN and it’s just so very hard to believe. He loves talking about space, legos, Star Wars, and a number of other topics. Sometimes he forgets to wait his turn to talk because he’s so excited about the topic he’s thinking about. We remind him to wait his turn and not interrupt, but honestly, I don’t get too upset about it. There once was a time when he didn’t talk at all.
Sean used to jabber and say words just like most children. Looking back on his baby and toddlerhood, he didn’t say as much as his very verbal sisters, but I kept a notebook filled with the words he spoke, and at his 18 month check-up, I happily shared them with his pediatrician. Just a few months later, however, he stopped adding new words. In fact, he stopped using the words he was already speaking. The only word he used on a regular basis was, “No.”
It seemed a little odd to me, but I tried not to worry about it too much. He was still a happy kid. He still danced to the Wiggles and loved Blues Clues. I had taught him a few signs for words and he was still using those and had added a few of his own. A month went by and it was more pronounced. My mom noticed, and was starting to worry, so I eventually took him to the doctor. They checked his ears and ended up pulling out a GIANT piece of earwax out of his right ear.
The look on his face was priceless. His eyes were wide, as were mine, and we both couldn’t believe something like that could have been in his little ear.
But once that was out of his ear, things started to change. We were outside in our backyard and heard some birds singing. I said to him, “Seany, do you hear the birdies?” and he perked up and touched his right ear, as if he heard things for the first time.
Shortly after that, we had his hearing officially tested and eventually had his speech evaluated. What we learned through all of this was that Sean needed some time. What did it for him was the birth of his sister – and some time.
Once he got the wax out, he needed to learn how to talk again. What we learned was that he could hear us fine enough, but his own voice sounded weird in his own ears, so he stopped talking. He still wanted to communicate with us, so he found other ways to do it. He would sign – making up signs for almost everything. He would bring us things, point, gesture, nod and shake his head, and smile to convey when he wanted to let us know when we were right.
When he started talking again, it was like he started talking all over again. Babbling first, then small words, bigger words, then stringing words together. But it took awhile, because he was so used to talking without speaking. Here’s a great example of his communication in this video. He’s just over 2 in this video – a happy, enthusiastic boy. What’s really evident in this video is not just how good at communicating with us HE is, but how good at reading his cues we had become.
Over the years, he quickly progressed. He had some speech therapy. He graduated speech therapy. Now he’s an eleven year old boy in 5th grade who loves to talk. He could talk about all kinds of topics, especially Star Wars, Legos, and Science. He’s a great friend, a great big brother, and a wonderful son.
I’m so proud of how far he’s come, and I’m so proud of who he is. I’m so lucky I get to be his mom.
Eleven years ago this kid changed my life.
Happy Birthday, Sean!
I think that might be one of the cutest videos I have ever seen. I will never forget how good he was at getting us to understand him with his hand signals. And now his amazing vocabulary and ability to express himself would put a lot of adults to shame.