If I am being brutally honest, I struggled with the thought of going my entire life without hearing my child say “I love you”. I can vividly remember being so focused on “if only Brantley could talk”. I guess that was before I came to terms with the fact that communication doesn’t always mean speaking and that speaking is not related to intelligence.
Maybe it was denial or maybe it was hope, but I was certain he had it in him to be verbal. After all, he did have a few words. But the older Brantley got the less frequent those few words came and by 3, he completely stopped verbalizing.
While I will never stop trying to help Brantley develop functional communication in any way he sees fit, I am also at peace with Brantley’s communication style.
He gives me a hug when he needs a diaper change, because he knows that I will smell it; he cries when he is hungry; he puts on a shoe when he wants to go somewhere; and he licks my face to let me know he loves me.
He may not have the communication that the general public can understand or fathom but he is proof that love needs no words and I am at peace with that.
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