Dallas & I watched a TV show recently where a parent commented, in
reference to his son... a preschooler with Down's syndrome... "He talks but I
can't understand what he says."  Awhile later the same man said
"He talks but
it doesn't make sense," whereupon I responded aloud "No, you got
it right the
first time!"  This kid could have the same sort of problem with communication
you or I might have if we've just been released from the dentist's office.  I
had an interesting experience with that years ago, when I asked a butcher for
beef short ribs... he hadn't a clue what I meant.  My brain was still working
but my mouth wouldn't co-operate.  Folks with D.S. often have unusually large
tongues with an unusually small space to put them in... and they tend to have
low muscle tone as well.  The net result is that while they may have a lot to
say, they have difficulty getting it across to other people sometimes.


Now, putting this insight into practice...

           Victor (not his real name) lived with an extended family who spoke
little or no English at home.  He also had Down's syndrome.  We met when he &
Nora attended the same integrated daycare.  He soon developed a crush on Nora
... and followed her everywhere.  When I found him waiting for us at the door
I'd say "Good morning, Victor."  When he gestured in Nora's
direction I'd say
"Yes, Nora's here."  When he pointed at the cubbyhole where
Nora's belongings
were kept I'd say "Yes, that's Nora's cubby."  On such occasions
he generally
made an attempt to speak... and although I didn't understand the actual words
until I knew him better, I got the drift from his behaviour.

           Isn't that more or less how other folks teach their kids to talk??
They repeatedly call attention to the names for objects & people the baby has
or may have an interest in.  And when they first hear a recognizable syllable
like "Da," they react with enthusiasm... they nod, they smile,
they say "Yes,
that's Daddy!"  They may also report the incident to friends, neighbours, and
people whom they've only just met on the bus.  IMHO the same basic strategies
work equally well when the kid is four years old... as Victor was at the time
I'm referring to here... and with older kids too.  Some people say "It's easy
for you, you're a teacher!"  Maybe the novelty doesn't wear off so easily, or
I'm willing to wait longer to see the fruits of my labours, or both.  From my
perspective it looks as if they understand intuitively what to do... but they
may have forgotten that "success" is 10% inspiration + 90% perspiration.

           Within a year, the staff were asking me to interpret for them when
they couldn't understand what Victor was trying to say.  I don't take that to
be an indication of a lack of effort and/or lack of competence on their part.
I'd probably spent more one-to-one time with Victor than they had, however...
and I may have had a more finely attuned ear because of prior experience with
Nora.  If you begin with the assumption that a child is a sentient being with
a desire to communicate & acknowledge that you may not always understand what
s/he is trying to say, you can go on from there.  That's what I'd like to get
across to other people, including the father in the TV show, I guess....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+