Tyler is my oldest and sweetest boy! I say 'sweetest' because he truly is a sweet boy! He has a big heart and loves his 'people'! When I say people -- that encompasses quite of few people in his world.
As most of you know, Tyler has a speech delay (pretty significant) for his age. He also has a fine motor skill delay (which means mainly with his writing skills--hands and finger movements 'need fine tuning'! He has progressed greatly on both ends but still needs improvement in both.
It has been a challenge since he was about 2 years old because since then he has not caught up with his age group in communication. Now we all know how frustrating it is to be telling someone something and they are not understanding what we are trying to tell them. It happens all the time in life situations. Well, for tyler this is a daily occurrence and it can repeat itself in a day as well.
So, I get frustrated, Ben gets frustrated and most people get frustrated that they can't understand what Tyler is saying sometimes. Well, Tyler gets the most upset when he is not understood because he 'knows exactly' what he saying. Tyler loves to talk and conversate, but his words get lost in translation a lot.
I will sometimes look at other people (his people) while Tyler is talking to them and a lot of them will tune him out or just 'fake' knowing what he said. My heart is sad for both of them. For the people they are losing out on knowing Tyler and what he is about and for Tyler he sometimes feels it from them that they are not taking in what he is saying and he gets mad or just walks away.
Having a communication barrior is a huge handicap for Tyler and for all of us in his world. I, being his mom, love him dearly and want him to succeed and progress in every way possible so I pray, I fight for him in the school system, I find ways to help him move forward and I repeat my steps again and again until I am exhausted. Rest a bit and then keep doing it--because he's my son and I love him more than he will ever know.
The other day we are in the car and Tyler asks a question? I say, what did you say? (which is a common occurence) He says it again? I guessed at what he said and the guess was wrong because he told me, "no mom". Then, (something that he has not done before) asks the question using different words which I can, this time, understand. My little guy surprised me and is breaking communication barriers. Tyler felt good and I felt good.
He was asking are we home yet? I couldn't understand 'home' (what he does when communicating is omits, replaces or just can't pronounce the sounds correctly altogether--its a processing thing from his brain through his mouth). Speech is hard to understand because most kids have a different problems with speech(there are 100's of unique delays within speech).
He is going to a new school with (I hope) better help for him. I am told with therapy and hard work he will catch up to his age group. Now just so you know. Most of the time, Tyler understands language just fine, it is when he communicates back--his brain is correctly relaying the response, but when processing from the brain to actually speaking out loud is where the speech and responses are slightly different. Hence, the frustration on Tyler's part because again he knows what he is saying. He just doesn't understand that we sometimes can't always know.
He is a happy little boy who is a comedian at heart. The irony of that. He trys to tell a choke and laughs at himself and we are left in the dust because sometimes we can't understand the joke.
But on a positive note he is progressing and 'his' people are understanding Tyler more and more. I pray for him and love him.
