Friday, June 27, 2008

Worry, Worry, Worry. Too Much Worry

A fellow M.O.B. (mother of a boy) sent this article to me a few days ago. I just got around to reading it this evening. It was just what I needed.

To say I've been worried about Linus's expressive language skills is an understatement. We've been signing at him since he was 3 months old and the only sign he's ever clearly given us was "milk". Now, he doesn't even do that. Plus, he doesn't really say any words. He just does a lot of grunting. I know I'd written earlier that he has duck and dog down. He's even added in mama. But that's about it, with the exception of mama, we don't even hear those very often. It's silly, I know... he's not even one year old yet. But as a stay-at-home mom, my abilities are measured in his successes and I'm really in need of a confidence boost.

One thing I'm not worried about are his receptive language skills. He can follow simple directions and definitely understands signs we make. I regularly tell myself to let him develop at his own pace, and that where he's at developmentally is healthy and normal but I still worry. It's my job as mommy, I guess.

Oh, and that article also allays another of my irrational fears. It says that his lack of eye contact is normal for boys and not a sure sign of autism. I've reassured myself all along that he likes to make eye contact just not with me, but it's nice to read that many boys are the same way.

One last thing, the title of this post is a quote from one of my favorite books. Anyone (besides my husband) know what book it is?



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

are you nuts? He makes eye contact ALL THE TIME that is what's so charming about him! He is very interested in people. He is going to be comfortable in new situations because he is not afraid to make eye contact. You WORRY way too much. Mom

Unknown said...

Hey Abby~
I would love to send you an email on this topic. Too much to post here. Coming from a mama of 2 boys with one in ST and the other who has been falsley diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) I have a lot of experience on this. I also have some insight on vaccines. Mind you I am not an expert, by any means, but could share with you what has worked and not worked for us. And Maddox did the same thing as Linus with the signing... the only thing he will sign is milk even though he can sign a large variety of things. Until you send me an email with your email, rest assured that you are stressing for no reason. Kids that are more motor driven often have speech delays and with that being said Linus still has until his 15-18 month check up to have atleast 5 purposefull words before it is of real concern. Ok, sorry for the run ons and babbling. Send me a note! Talk to you soon!
P.S. How is your new baby carrier? I can't wait to see pics of it and how it is going... when we have a 3rd I think I may go that route this time.
Sam :)

Marty, a.k.a. canape said...

Worrying is our job now, I think.

CC is only 5 months old and I've already worried about the eye contact thing.

Maybe we should call it something besides "worrying." Something like, "incredibly detailed observing and analyzing."

Anonymous said...

maybe ignorance is bliss after all. I was ignorant of all these "new ideas" and I guess I never worried about "eye contact" I was too busy just trying to keep up with them!!! And I guess they both turn out fine! Linus is great! He is certainly socially active and loves interacting with other children!!! gramma B.