Language and Labels
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| The blue tape found thoughout my house! |
Garion said his 1st words in 1998 at the age of 5. After years of pointing at object and uttering a single nose (mostly a long Eeeeee) to get what he wanted, I became frustrated and developed a new course of action. You see, not long before this milestone I had a conversation with a doctor that changed my life.
Several days earlier, I was told by a psychiatrist that Garion would most likely be institutionalized by age 10. I was also told that he would remain non-communicative, and would most likely become violent. Never, in my life, had I wanted to unleash my emotions on one person so badly. But I knew he was wrong about “my son” and I had to prove it!
So, taking a lesson from my childhood battle with dyslexia, I attempted a new trick every time Garion wanted juice. I started raising Garion’s hand, placed his fingers near my lips, and slowly spoke each word, emphasizing the sound of, “Can I have juice please?” I slowly repeated each word carefully while gently brushing my lips across the tips of his fingers. This strategy places the sound and movements directly against the most sensitive part of his fingers and the nerves leading directly to the learning centers in the brain.
This strategy continued for several weeks; faintly at first I would hear the sounds “C’ah I, Ja,-ice Plzzz?” As time and juice progressed, I noticed some progress, however, I was NOT done! I was determined to prove "THAT" doc wrong. After six weeks of trying, practicing, and repeating the sounds so Garion could feel and hear the movement of forming those words, it clicked.
It was a Saturday morning that quickly became anything but normal. The family was up and moving when Garion walked into the kitchen. He pointed at his juice and initiated his usual “Eeeeee” request for juice. I quickly tapped his mother on the arm and said watch, “Garion, how do you ask for juice?”
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| An attempt to avoid the snooze button! Yeah this label does not work so well. |
I watched as the wheels started turning in his young mind, kicking the process into high gear. On that Saturday, after six weeks of training and with no fingers, no lead-in from dad, and zero prompting, Garion uttered his first clearly understandable words, “Can I have juice please?” I believe he got the whole jug of juice after I pulled myself together from the emotional flood that freely erupted in the kitchen on that Saturday morning in 1998. It took me five years and six weeks to hear and understand the first words uttered by my son. Then, another 13 years to get where we are at today.
Garion’s speech has progressed, but I believe he still has room to grow. In the meantime, Garion’s use of labels around the house is just another form of his communication efforts. These simple blue labels, written in his own handwriting, are placed in various locations around the house and have a two-fold purpose:
· They’ve become a visual clue for Garion to communicate to himself, simple reminders really of some basic house rules, simple tasks, and locations for items: Knock, off-limits, turn off at 9:30, shirts, coat, cards, toys, and my favorite, the word NO taped across the snooze button. All it took was the idea from his ABA therapist and within two days tape started appearing in some of the strangest places around the house.
· Since his speech is still developing, labels are a way for Garion to express himself when words fall short. In order to get his point across to other family members, Garion can often be heard and seen pointing to the blue tape while reading the words to explain its meaning. This combination of language and labels has taken a path of its own, and will one day help Garion become self-supporting and semi-independent.
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| A mesh-up of lables found around our house. |
Because of his broken speech and labels, I often become the selfish father who wants a real conversation with my son. I want to talk to him about girls, cars, sports, and all the normal stuff dads talk to their sons about. More importantly, I want hear his thoughts and opinions on all of these subjects. I want to converse with him longer than 30 seconds to know the person hiding someplace inside his mind. I know my request may never happen.
Far beyond what I would like, I hope Garion finds what works for him and learns to express himself. With his use of Language and Labels, Garion is arming himself with new tools to take on a world as he finds his own way to express himself.
