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Words get stuck
Jack will be three in a month and he really is a gorgeous little boy. Yes, there are times when he likes to demonstrate his independence, waving a finger at you whilst telling you off, going absolutely rigid and shouting at you, turning bright red with the anger he is feeling but these are quite rare outbursts. His speech, which was slow at first is now galloping apace but he has slowly been developing a frustrating, for him, and hard to observe problem, he stutters. At first it was on odd occasions, it seemed to be when he was saying 'A' so we all just ignored it sure that it was a phase that would soon pass, but it hasn't, and it is getting worse. Daughter has spoken to the Health Visitor about it, she was quite helpful and gave daughter a leaflet about the best way to approach the problem. We have all read it and are trying hard to follow the guidance but it is so hard to see Jack's frustration when he can't manage to get the words out and there are times he will just give up, his little shoulders drop and he looks at you so sadly that I just want to wave a magic wand and make everything better, all we can do is settle for a hug and encouragement to try again.
Today his Mummy went to the G.P for her postnatal check-up. Izzy came out with flying colours, putting on weight nicely and 4cms longer than Jack was at her age, her hips are the subject of debate and so she is having a scan of them on Tuesday, there is a pronounced 'click' to them, even when you are holding her you can feel it. Daughter asked the Doc for the Pill, and was told she didn't need it because she is breastfeeding! What, is the G.P mad, or stupid? Never, ever trust breastfeeding as a form of birth control, it is a notoriously poor way of avoiding another baby. When daughter phoned me to update me on how things had gone she sounded really angry, and I soon found out why. Jack was with her and he had started to talk to the doc, but started stammering, badly, and the 'wonderful' G.P decided that the best thing to do was imitate him, which she did, whilst bending forward to him (I am feeling really, really angry just writing this). Anyway, Jack just became totally frustrated, shouted, stamped his feet and then burst into tears. How callous of this idiot to do this to a little lad. We have been so careful to allow him time when he gets stuck on a word, never rushing him, never second guessing what he is trying to say, and certainly never imitating or making fun of him. No, it took a so called health professional to be that unthinking, unfeeling, crass and ignorant.
