The best thing I heard from Bob was that Liam was "present" and this may seem a small thing, but it means everything to me. Here's why: when Liam was born I knew nothing about Down syndrome or special needs. And I have to admit, my biggest fear was that he would have a vacant look in his eyes, that he wouldn't be present. It's hard to admit fears, but in doing so sometimes you find you're not alone. Someone else may be inspired by your honesty and voice and share their own hopes and fears. This conversation started because i was recounting our breakfast experience that morning in a restaurant in Santa Barbara on our way to the evaluation. Pedro ordered coffee and decided to put honey in it. After one more refill, and added honey, Pedro got a third refill. As soon as the waitress had poured the coffee Liam reaches over and hands Pedro the honey bear, saying "Honey!" We were all impressed with his memory and that's when we were told that Liam was very "present" by the evaluator who has guided us over the last three years.
This guidance is reassuring to say the least. I am not concerned that the process to start speech therapy locally is taking months. I am not worried that we are "losing time" in the wait. Liam is most definitely not falling behind. I am not worried that our guides and trainers from NACD will ever underestimate Liam's potential. Au contraire. They will make sure he is always progressing and we the family are in complete control. No power struggles. No personality conflicts. No time wasted trying to set up meetings with psychologists, special ed directors, general ed teachers, speech therapists, etc. No wishing we had more hours or a different therapist. Just a quarterly day trip and as much contact as I want through phone calls, videos emailed, Skype. I decide. I realize it's not for everyone, but it is working for us.
And Liam's language is exploding! He puts two words together all the time, sometimes more. He copies what we say. He names objects around him. Just now he saw a capital "A" in a book and pointed to it saying "A, apple", referencing an ABC phonics song he likes to listen to. Earlier he told me outside, "Bubbles up high!" His short term memory is improving. I've been trying to keep track of all the new things he's doing and just can't anymore! It's so much!
Our goals going forward are going to be: potty training (we got some good ideas and think he is ready for the next step), still working on behavior/eloping, no choices at meal time (as Lupe's teachers say, "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit"), giving Liam more chores (like cleaning under table, matching socks, putting silverware away), language and processing.
