What He Knows

The thing with early intervention is that for a child as small as Noah whether he has some type of label or not, the therapy is the same. It isn't until the child is much older and you can understand how they learn and socialize that you can really determine what, if any, the underlying cause is. Noah has been in therapy since late January, so roughly, 3.5 months, and it is hard to believe the changes in him.

At 18 months, he babbled constantly, but said no specific words. He didn't point or mimic. He had very little receptive language and even less expressive. His eye contact was good with me, but minimal with most others. He ignored his name being called and pretty much ran circles around me.

Now, at 23 months, he babbles with inflection, expresses dislike (more often than not), wags his finger to emphasize the emphatic babbling. He signs want and all done. He listens pretty consistently to the word "no." He labels tons of things like keys, glasses, show (tv), snack, car, swing, stroller. He understands things like, "let's go," "time for bath," "put on your shoes," "wanna watch a show?" He can identify and label most animals and can make their sounds, although several of our animals go "doo doo do doo doo." He mimics mannerisms like "hmmm..." while putting his finger to his mouth. He copies some of my speech like saying "okay" (k) after almost any statement. He totally gets "ready, set, go," and he always sounds out the "g" on go like "g-g-g-go!" He can count to ten when prompted. He knows all his shapes and colors and definitely shows a preference for circles and the color red. He recognizes letters of the alphabet, A, B, C, O, S, Z. When he feels like it, he can wave goodbye, blow kisses, give high fives, follow simple commands. He is still very fast, but activities hold his attention for longer periods of time. He stills loves to hold things in his hand, but the rake has become much lower priority to sticks and bubble wands and random Mr. Potato Head pieces. You wouldn't believe the collection I have going on in my car. He can put together simple puzzles and has stopped throwing all the pieces on the ground. His actions are much more purposeful and to borrow a comment from our speech therapist, he is becoming very "put together." His eye contact is improving, and he definitely acknowledges people before he ignores them. He sings tons of songs like Old MacDonald, Oh Grizzly Bear, Here Comes the Sun, and the "la daa daa's" on Jack Johnson's Bubble Toes, my personal favorite. He still refuses to point to his nose, but he will point to other body parts like his head, toes, mouth. He is starting to get pretend play and will put just about anything up to his ear, and say "hello?" There are so many other little things that he is doing, and I feel like finally his little personality is coming out. He is so sweet, and although he is starting to throw a few tantrums, he never hits or bites or throws things. He is becoming such a big boy before my eyes, and I am so proud of him and all his hard work.