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Goin' Mobile
Dec. 19th, 2007 06:43 amAt the current moment, Shannon is washing dishes, I am considering a stack of exams (as in, "You're not so big! You don't scare me!"), and our son is moving across his room from one toy to another, one corner to another: his blocks, his rocket, the bottom bins in his toy shelf.
A few weeks ago, Shannon turned to me one night after the boy had gone to sleep and said, "I got a little sad today, because I realized our son would not be mobile by Christmas." I got a little sad too, and we hugged and were quiet for a little while. Such conversations are rare for two reasons - first of all, our son is not particularly delayed in any meaningful category. If Nico didn't have Down Syndrome, we wouldn't be worried that he wasn't speaking or crawling or walking, even though plenty of babies of comparable ages do all these things. We'd rely on the truisms that babies develop at their own rate and just keep encouraging out boy along. But he does have DS, we do worry, and we should worry if it springs us to action - all the research suggests that parents and therapy can make an enormous difference not just in when the baby reaches developmental milestones, but also in the long-term development. So being spurred to action is critical.
Second (of the reasons such conversations are rare), is that both of us try very hard to set goals, to track developmental milestones, but not to compare him against some chart of when things are supposed to happen. Such a path leads to madness and fear, but the charts are everywhere! Baby books are filled with them. More importantly, therapists come to the house with lists of "one-year" or "two-year" tasks that a child could accomplish. In our health care system, such lists are a critical component as one's child only qualifies for services if the child has an observable delay - or, as it turns out, has an extra chromosome. Nico is not delayed in most ways (and is within typical spectra in all ways), yet qualifies because of his diagnosis, but still the charts come out.
( The road to mobility - now with videos. )
A few weeks ago, Shannon turned to me one night after the boy had gone to sleep and said, "I got a little sad today, because I realized our son would not be mobile by Christmas." I got a little sad too, and we hugged and were quiet for a little while. Such conversations are rare for two reasons - first of all, our son is not particularly delayed in any meaningful category. If Nico didn't have Down Syndrome, we wouldn't be worried that he wasn't speaking or crawling or walking, even though plenty of babies of comparable ages do all these things. We'd rely on the truisms that babies develop at their own rate and just keep encouraging out boy along. But he does have DS, we do worry, and we should worry if it springs us to action - all the research suggests that parents and therapy can make an enormous difference not just in when the baby reaches developmental milestones, but also in the long-term development. So being spurred to action is critical.
Second (of the reasons such conversations are rare), is that both of us try very hard to set goals, to track developmental milestones, but not to compare him against some chart of when things are supposed to happen. Such a path leads to madness and fear, but the charts are everywhere! Baby books are filled with them. More importantly, therapists come to the house with lists of "one-year" or "two-year" tasks that a child could accomplish. In our health care system, such lists are a critical component as one's child only qualifies for services if the child has an observable delay - or, as it turns out, has an extra chromosome. Nico is not delayed in most ways (and is within typical spectra in all ways), yet qualifies because of his diagnosis, but still the charts come out.
( The road to mobility - now with videos. )
