Programming Language


Image from:  Microsoft .com
If I had a dime for every time I said, "Mom-ma, say Momma...Mmmmmmmmmmmm-ommm-ma," I'd be rich.  He would either look at me and laugh or more often than not, just ignore me.  When he was a baby, there was a game I played with him.  It was one of the few ways I could get his undivided attention.  I would take his hand in mine and tickle his stomach and say, "Momma's baby...where is momma's baby?  Right THERE!" and point with his finger to his stomach.  I probably did this until he was about four.  To just hear those sweet words come from his lips,  that we so often take for-granted, "Momma."  The longing was painful.

He was close to two before he ever uttered his first word.  His favorite word was, "more."  THAT word can be used for so much.  It should be banned from the English language!  It was his crutch.  He used it for everything!!  If he wanted to be held, he would come to me and hold up his hands and say, "More!"  If he wanted a drink, he would hand me a cup and say, "More!"  If he wanted to go outside to play, he would go the door, grab the handle and say, "More."  The uses for "more" were never-ending.

Language slooooooowly developed and by three, he had about ten words.  He still would not address anyone by a title or name..yet.  Around this time, he started calling his sister, Ana, "Sissy."  That was the first time he showed us that he realized each person had a special title, but it would still be a while before he began addressing others by their chosen names.  Then came the day, somewhere around the time he turned five.  He began talking about "Momma's baby."  I would smile, laugh and reassure him, "Yes, you ARE 'Momma's Baby'!"  This went on for months before I suddenly realized something that would cause my heart to melt.  He was calling ME "Momma's Baby!"  Now, at 14 years old, he STILL calls me "Momma's Baby" and I still melt every time.

Image from:  http://www.freeallimages.com




While language still is not easy for him and conversation is limited, today he has an extensive vocabulary.  He can express his needs.  He constantly expresses his wants (self-absorbed much?) and every now and then, he gives us glimpses into what is going on in that huge microprocessor we call his brain.

So, if you are new to this autism world and you are becoming frustrated because you are saying the same words a million times and getting nothing back, your gestures or actions do not seem to be sinking in, your life is in chaos trying to balance therapy, school, soccer practice and work--do NOT give up.  If he/she seems oblivious to what you are doing or saying, just say it more, and do it more, but most of all, do not become frustrated and quit.  Look at him/her like a huge computer.  They are downloading all the information around them.  They get what you are saying, they HEAR you, and they SEE you.  They KNOW you love them; they LOVE you.  It may not come back to us at the speed in which we want.  You can't "unzip" the files at will.  There is no magic "run" button to get to the action, but the information is still there.  One day, all that effort you are putting into programming that "computer" will come spilling out.  It may come in small text files or it may come as one huge application, but either way, the data is going in and it WILL come out.  However, if you choose to leave that computer siting idle, allowing it to collect dust, if you do not protect it with powerful anti-virus programs, you have neglected it and eventually that memory capability will cease to exist.

Image from:  Microsoft.com


If you neglect a computer, it crashes.  If we become complacent with our children, we set them up to crash as well.  Keep feeding him/her all that data and one day you will be amazed at what a beautiful program you have helped create!!

They quantity and type of language input that we present to our children strongly influences  improvement of both expressive and receptive language development (Haegib, McDuffie, & Weismer, 2013).



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