Echolalia and repetition... no pun intended

Many blind children go through a phase of Echolalia, as they automatically repeat what someone else says and then sometimes answer afterwards. I've found my daughter uses echolalia to process the information and build sort of a database of questions and answers in her head. It took some time for her to begin developing thoughts and phrases of her own instead of just pulling a relevant, and sometimes irrelevant, phrase from her list. For example, a common question to her would be, "Are you hungry?" and she would answer, "Are you hungry? Yes, I'm hungry." Finally, she would answer something like "Yes!! I want some more turkey Mommy!" That day was a very happy day for me. I could tell she was learning to express her thoughts, wants and needs instead of getting frustrated with the lack of effective communication.

She still has some tendencies to work out. When she is on the potty and wants to be alone, she says, "I'll be right back" when she really means "mommy leave and come back when I'm finished." LOL But potty training is a whole other story...

Anyway, not long ago she began a new phase of repeating the same question over and over and over again. Pretty much til I wanted to pull my hair out- I would insist that she knows the answer, so there's no reason to keep asking. But when she obsesses over something and gets upset, still repeating the same phrase or question, I find myself worried that she is trying to tell me something other than what she is actually saying. I found this article on Parenting.com that gave a little insight. It's pretty short and to the point. I recommend anyone going through the same thing to check it out- if you want! Also, the wonderbaby.org website has a great article on echolalia as well.

http://www.parenting.com/article/why-your-toddler-keeps-asking-the-same-question?cid=tw

A little scare and some hope...

Today as we're just sitting on the couch, M feeling her braille letter tiles on her magnet board and me close beside her browsing away on my laptop, I hear her start to gag. My first thought was that she is choking on what would most likely be a small 1x1inch square magnetic tile, way too big to go down her little throat. She would sometimes put a corner of it into her mouth and chew but never has she attempted to put the whole thing in her mouth, nor any other object as far as that goes- including food! So all I could think is that she must be sick. She just drank two cups of diluted strawberry milk; maybe the box was expired and the grocery store didn't pull it off the shelf, as I had just bought them.

I picked her up and moved towards the bathroom. She was still gagging but was getting air so I figured it must be she was just sick. We stopped once we were off the carpet and onto hard floors that would be much easier to clean. She gagged and vomited more, with a little gasp for air. I stuck my fingers into her tiny mouth and felt at the back of her throat but didn't find anything foreign. I kept thinking "what am I going to do?" Were we going to need to go to the ER? She then acted as though she was finished gagging, but scared of what had happened. She has vomited many times in the past but not recently. After getting ourselves cleaned up, I went back to the tiled area to clean it too when I saw a little braille magnetic square with teeth marks on one edge.

I don't know what possessed her to finally try to eat a solid object after five years. Maybe it was an accident and she didn't mean to swallow; but a little piece of me is encouraged by the thought that maybe she is ready to bite and chew real food! Of course, we'll have to hold off on giving her objects that small again unless we're watching her every second. Most children her age know what they can eat and what they can't. M is different because she just never went through those stages in life when most children learn chewing, swallowing and what's not food. We didn't worry about it in the past because we couldn't ever get her to put anything in her mouth. All her meals are practically pureed in the blender before she eats them. Her little tongue knows how to sift out the tiniest piece of carrot or pasta. We can occasionally talk her into biting into an apple or powdered donut, but even then she immediately spits it out.

It was a huge scare and I'm sure most parents go through something like this, but I pray it never happens again. We always watch her closely and have never had a scare like this. Now that it is over, I try to look at the bright side. Sometimes the little things in life can give you the brightest day. And I am always thankful for the little things.

  

She walks by faith, not by sight.

Most children begin walking around 12-18 months. My daughter is almost six years old and still isn't walking independently. She puts one foot down, then the other but something with her balance just doesn't connect. She walks well with the help of someone or her walker; but even the walker is hard for her when the not-all-terrain wheels hit the smallest crack in the pavement. She participates in physical therapy on a regular basis with guidance from a vision/orientation & mobility specialist and still struggles with every step.

I guess what it is so frustrating is that she seems completely capable of walking on her own. Doctors can't give a physical problem with her joints or muscles- she just hasn't quite got the hang of it. Therapists have mentioned the possibility of low muscle tone, which we try to increase with strength training, exercise, and lots of protein!

We all try our best to make her walk and not carry her, but every busy mom knows sometimes you just need to move a little faster. So I pick her up, then later feel the guilt for not taking the time to make her do it on her own. I get on to myself and make a mental note that it's going to take her time and practice. It is my job to provide the tools necessary for her to succeed... my hands, a walker, patience, encouragement... I just have to remind myself of all that she has accomplished in her lifetime and I'm the proudest mother in the world.