The Real Struggle of Having a Child Who Cannot Speak

Harry, at the point of writing this, can say around 20 words and most of them are only recognizable for people who have spent lots of time with him like us and his grandparents and even then we can’t always work out what he is trying to say.

The truth is, it’s hard. Harry still at almost four exclusively communicates using Makaton. With him going to school in September, I worry. I worry that he will not be able to communicate with his classmates and struggle to make friends.

He’s picking up new sounds all the time and of course, it’s something we are always so proud of when he says a new word but its hard to have to speak for him, to explain to people what he is saying. And sometimes I think that we shouldn’t be speaking to him but he wouldn’t be able to communicate with other people if we didn’t.

Christmas and birthdays, we get what feels like hundreds of messages asking ‘What does Harry want?’ and the honest answer, we don’t know because he cannot tell us. Most children at 3 years old can ask for something specific or answer the question, ‘what would you like for Christmas/your birthday?’ with Harry, it’s as much of a guessing game now as it was for his first Christmas. I think we do well though!

Harry also can’t tell us when he’s feeling unwell, or something is hurting so I find myself questioning when he is misbehaving or acting slightly out of character, is it a stage? or is something wrong? Or am I just imagining it and he’s being a typical three-year-old?

I guess the point of this post is to highlight that as much as I may try to pretend and act like nothing phases me, sometimes this journey, with this amazing little boy, simply is, hard.

WRITTEN BY KAT HUGGINS FOR HER BLOG, RAISING HARRY.

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