ALPHABET SOUP
Zach’s phonetic and pronunciation journey has come a long way. From manamani (milk) and manamanam (water) to the crispier “spaghetti meatballs” and “chicken”, was a lot of improvement. Although words that have deeper diphthongs and higher degree of difficulties remain to have a lot to be desired. Still, he can’t pronounce words that have Z or R. When forced, he could yell though with a resounding NO! And you won’t go further when such kind of emotion runs high.
But why is it that subliminally we sometimes tried to force our kids to do what we envisioned ourselves that they should be doing or learning? Was it a projection of us, or was it just a frustration as a parent. Somehow, it reflects both. As parents from a third world country, tossed into the first world, this seemed to be a great challenge. We sometimes tend to prove to “them” that our genes and race are at par with the whites. By doing so, we stressed so much our parental parameters. And we go nuts when some people compare our kids to other kids. Shouldn’t parental care be something that we should enjoy and shower to our kids? If we rattle ourselves with the comments from others, we rattle too the growth of our kids.
On February, during his regular visit to his Pediatrician, it was suggested that Zach would go to a Speech Therapist and audiologist. Hearing such “suggestions” from your son’s doctor will certainly ring your panic button. But sensing the extent of opportunity for Zach’s growth, we immediately set appointment for the Speech Therapist. We felt that it would be a great disservice to Zach if we deny him the treatment he maybe needing. For me, it would be tantamount to being neglectful. Thankfully, they have one testing center at Don Jeter Elementary School , and it’s free.
We were quite anxious, though confident, on the day of the test. The Speech Therapist ushered us to her room and asked Jaz to fill up a form while asking some questions on why we brought Zach to her. Sensing that it would be too much for us to bear seeing Zach taking the test, Coco and I went out of the room. Deep inside, I knew how Jaz was feeling.
In a little than 30 minutes, both of them came out in the hall way, beaming. The good news was, Zach passed the test and although, he can’t clearly pronounce the words, he has no concern about how he speaks. Jaz told me that two of the things that he failed was not identifying his NECK and color YELLOW And the best news was, by the time he goes to his Pre-K, he could be accepted at Don Jeter…and that is for free or with minimal fee. We only have to pay a visit to his Speech Therapist to formalize his entry.
A day before we were supposed to go to his audiologist, we called off the appointment. For now, I see no reason that Zach has problems hearing. Why? Whenever I yelled at him that “spaghetti meatballs, chicken, or pancakes, are ready, he can very well hear me and he can very well consume them all.
Right now, except for letters S and L, he knows and identifies most of the alphabets and numbers. We are confident that before he turns 7, he will surely know the difference.
As for Coco , well, if his Kuya is busy with his numbers and letters, he, too, is always busy with his soup.
