Monday, 13 September 2010

• The Challenge of a Nonverbal Child

  Raising a nonverbal child has it’s challenges. When that child is really young, and has not learned an alternative form of communication, it can turn into a nightmare for child and parent. I remember a nightmare situation when my son was about three years old. If my son had been able to communicate, this situation may not have led to a trip to the emergency room.

  It was late, I was tired, and my husband was working the night shift. I needed a break, so my sister-in-law and niece offered to baby sit. I soon received a phone call that my son was extremely upset. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, but they didn’t know why. He kept clawing at his stomach and screaming/crying. They put him in a warm bath and that seemed to help. After they got him out, he would start out crying in pain.

  I went over there and my heart broke. The sound of my son in so much pain, was almost unbearable. I hooked him up into his car seat, and headed for the hospital. As I was parking, the crying eased up. As we walked into the hospital, he had stopped. I signed us in, and waited to be called. The lady called us to register, and he started to cry again. I told her that he didn’t talk. I told her he was in a lot of pain, and that he has a high threshold for pain. That’s what really scared me. The fact that he was carrying on like he had been, when it takes a lot of pain before he cries.

  She looked at me like I was a crazy mom, making something out of nothing. Well, it didn’t take long and he was worked up to a screaming/crying state. It was so bad, that the doctor in the back rushed in. He immediately had me bring him to an exam room, and told the lady she could take care of the paperwork later.

  I had called my husband while I was driving to the hospital. He left work and met up with me in the hospital. He knew that something had to be seriously wrong for our son to be carrying on like that. As it turned out, it wasn’t life threatening. My son had eaten cabbage earlier in the day. The cabbage gave him gas. He was also a little constipated. So, he had a lot of pockets of gas inside him, and no way to get them out.

  The doctor prescribed some medicine for the nurse to give him immediately. Shortly after that, and it started to work. I was so relieved. I had imagined the worse. I had felt so helpless, and so alone. When faced with an unsympathetic paper pusher, I wanted to just scream at her to get a clue. I was so thankful that the doctor came rushing in when my son started crying again.

  Back then, I always felt so isolated. I had no answers to why my son was developmentally delayed. I had no answers as to why he didn’t talk. I had no idea if he even understood what was being said to him. There were days that I thought he did, and others that I just wasn’t sure. I now know that he did, and I cringe at some of the things my husband and I talked about in front of him. Communication is so important. When your child can not communicate, you are bound to have your own nightmare situations.

  
  

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