lifelong knitter: Never Give Up!

All the conventional wisdom told me that if my son did not have functional language by the time he was nine, he probably never would.
This was doled out with mournful faces, and the expectation that I would accept these proclamations and get back to my knitting.
(Which I will, with PICTURES, very soon. I have been knitting. A LOT, in fact. You'll see....)
I continued to nod and smile and thank them very much for their prognosis, file the papers in the ever growing stack marked *stuff and nonsense, MEDICAL*, and work on alternative communication skills.
I continued to TALK to him, (AS IF he UNDERSTANDS, I heard my Mother whisper once...like he was a houseplant or something...) to explain things to him, to sing him songs, and take him places and prompt him to say Please and Thank You and Yes Ma'am (being in Rome, you know....) and to play Classical Music in the car.
Yesterday being Mozart's birthday, it was all Mozart all the time on my Mommymobile radio when I picked him up for our weekly outing. He was a bit grumbly, as his schedule had been changed and work had ended early. He had gone to the Y and walked a mile around the indoor track to try and get some of the grumbliness worked off, but he was NOT his smiley self...he wanted me to FIX the schedule change.
As this was not possible, he rocked back and forth in the back seat, continuing to ask incessantly for his calendar to be changed.
We went to the bagel store, and he was briefly cheered by the HOT sign on the plain bagel bin, and Very Happy that they had just finished baking chocolate chip cookies. He grabbed a bottled water and waited to be rung up, still rocking and grinding his teeth. He tore into the cookie packaging and wolfed it down, chugged the water, and began again to ask for the calendar to be changed.
I tried to redirect him by pointing out a favorite piece on the radio.
He thought for a second, his process interrupted.
Scanning his mental calendar, he brightened. "Mozart's BIRTHDAY!" he exulted "Let's EAT CAKE!"
I giggled. Appropriate language deserves to be rewarded. Hopefully the staff nutritionist will not read me the riot act...
We went to the bakery and picked out a Very Fancy Cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to Mozart before heading back to his Nest.
When I dropped him off he said....
"Next week you take me to (his words for the MALL) and we'll get something to eat at SONIC."
His job coach and I looked at each other with open mouths
"Now THAT" she said in wonderment "is a SENTENCE!"
He's 20.
Never, EVER, give up!

Comments

Never. Ever. Big hug to you.

Posted by: lillium | January 28, 2005 at 08:53 AM

I love a boy who will go for cookies AND cupcakes in one day, oh, yes.
:)
He is AMAZING.

Posted by: Rachael | January 28, 2005 at 08:53 AM

Typical 20 year old man:

What assuages his anger? Bagels and a cookie.

What makes him happy? Parties and cake.

What inspires a full sentence? Lunch at the mall.

Our grandmothers were right: The way to a man's heart IS through his stomach!

What a great story, Greta. Lucky boy!

Posted by: MaryB | January 28, 2005 at 09:07 AM

Greta, your blog entries never cease to leave me with my mouth hanging open in an awed grin . . . you're an amazing mom, with equally amazing kids.

Posted by: chris | January 28, 2005 at 09:11 AM

Yeah Boy Bird!! If you had told me yesterday that it was Mozart's birthday, we would have had cake too.

Posted by: Beth | January 28, 2005 at 10:10 AM

What, you're going to make me all teary before it's even 8 AM?? Loud, weepy cheering from the West Coast....

Posted by: Ann | January 28, 2005 at 10:20 AM

Hooray for the Boy Bird! I'm so glad that you and he and Daughter Bird are constantly making miracles. It gives me hope for this crazy world we live in.

Posted by: Nathania | January 28, 2005 at 10:42 AM

What "professionals" need to remember is - never underestimate the power of a mother's love. Hooray for both of you!

Posted by: Jane | January 28, 2005 at 10:58 AM

your children's success stories lift me up everytime i read one. thank you, thank you for sharing with us.

Posted by: lisa | January 28, 2005 at 11:37 AM

You could write a book on how to be an incredible mother. I'm inspired and touched by your blog. "Mozart's Birthday! Let's eat cake" is more brilliant than most of the words that have come out of the mouths of all of my ex-boyfriends, so your son is miles ahead of them.

Posted by: Alexis | January 28, 2005 at 12:26 PM

Never give up... what a wonderful occurance!

Posted by: Melissa | January 28, 2005 at 04:16 PM

You know, this story just reinforces my suspicion that most "professionals" got their opinions off work with lab rats, translate it to humans in a research paper, and consider the subject closed. They don't take into account the amazing power of just working with a kid one-on-one. If you aren't writing a book, you oughta be, woman.

And I second Alexis - shoot, I spend my day around scary-smart people, and I don't think any one of them would be aware that it's Mozart's birthday. MaryB puts it in context - food. Yep, though he may have limitations (don't we all? Ask me to do complicated math!) he's a really typical guy too. Hugs.

Posted by: Catherine | January 28, 2005 at 07:14 PM

William's order at the bagel place?

"Plain & plain."

*giggle*

Posted by: Laurie | January 29, 2005 at 12:10 AM

hurrah!

Posted by: sUsAn | January 29, 2005 at 09:10 AM

Can't believe I missed Mozarts birthday and a chance at cake, and for the record? Now that my *very verbal* kids are teens? I'm particularly impressed by the complete sentence.

Posted by: stephanie | January 30, 2005 at 10:26 AM