More?

We have always been told that Daniel would most likely be non-verbal because of the malformation on the perisylvian area (language area) of his brain. Although we’ve been told this by more than one doctor, by the statistics that you read on CBPS (Daniel’s 1st diagnosis), and the fact that he is almost 4 and hasn’t said “mama” yet, we haven’t given up.

We give Daniel many different avenues to communicate with everyone. He uses his facial expressions & eyes. He is one of the most expressive kids I know. He can move his eyebrows in ways I have never seen anyone do before, to show his excitement, his concerns, his anger. He has awesome eye gaze technique down pat. He doesn’t have to say a word to understand him. You just need to watch him and you’ll know what he is telling you. Watch his eyes. Many people assume because he can’t speak, that he also can’t understand. This is incorrect, completely..he understands everything. His brain just won’t let him speak his words verbally. Apraxia and CBPS are his enemies.

We teach Daniel words all the time. Using flashcards, pictures, verbally, written,and we use sign language, which he understands but because of the cerebral palsy, he can’t form his hands correctly. We always ask him to ‘try’ to say the word (verbally or with his hands).

Here is a photo of what the word “more” looks like using American Sign Language. You take your fingers and tap them together...more

Here is Daniel doing his version of “more” for the first time. Does he rock or what?!?! He does it to the side because of the CP in his arms and he has a hard time getting the one arm to the center.

You can tell he is so proud of himself!

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