Before I launch into the messy details of what is and has been, here's a peek into Hugo circa now -- sledding on Christmas Eve day in VA.
As you can see (hear) Hugo is talking. A bit. But no, he's still massively behind his peers and this has been an ongoing tempest in s teapot. He has been in speech therapy since he was 16 months old. And yes, we agree this sounds ridiculous. And no, we have no faith any of it has done any good. At best he has enjoyed some of his therapists. To be clear: We didn't seek any of this out. His pediatrician referred us for an evaluation way back when. We weren't nervous about him, but OK, to rule anything bad out, we got one.
They found Hugo was a highly social, intelligent, normal baby -- who happened to have a speech delay. Then began the free speech therapy in the form of "early intervention."
We had a few farcical moments (the teacher who came and laid flat on our floor while she worked with Hugo becuase she was tired; the woman who came to our home and said she hated working and was only doing this to keep her benefits in reitrement).
And when he hit three, he was evaluatd again and they found he was highly social, intelligent and normal kid -- who happens to be speech delayed.
I'm not going into the visit to the developmental pediatrician -- not now at least. But let's just say we waited 8 months for an appointment in Jersey City where we tiptoed over condoms and Jack Daniels bottles to get to the office of an akward woman who had no appropriate tests for his age and no answers, save that she wanted to see him again in six months. No. Thanks.
We asked the doctor: What otherwise normal child grows up and never learns to speak? She got very quiet.
This is the other side of the autism scare: Kids like Hugo being watched like hawks and treated for things they will probably overcome in the fullness of time. Like a friend of mine whose two-year-old got referred to weekly occupational therapy because the toddler didn't like using a straw or rejected foods with strange textures.
But each time he adds a new word, they come out of the blue, spontaneously, but, well, the speech therapists can take credit for it. And if he sounds like he's speaking an alien tongue (he does) we can feel a tad less guilty.
But why am I writing about this? Because way back when I wrote a post here that included the phrase "two-year-old not speaking" -- it was a Google favorite. A bazillion nervous parents are out there, reaching into cyberland looking for validation that their silent spawn are going to be OK. I'm here to say, ya, they are. But you'll be driven to distraction (and intervention) until they do.
