The kid in the video is pretty big! I guess mom and everyone must have been continuing to just speak to him for years and years before this happened. These things always vary wildly from person to person, but don't lose heart! <3
There has never been any indication that he was on the spectrum, but once he started talking he became very well spoken, and almost dictatorial with how we spoke as children. Don't get me wrong, I loved this man with every part of my being, and he is the reason I am now an English teacher, but god dammit Doug, we can we please use the word "got"?
I’m autistic and I have the same expectations for my children 😆. People would often comment on how I spoke to my children when they were very young.
“You talk to them like they are adults.”
Or,
“They aren’t going to understand you if you use those big words, they don’t know what it means”
To which I would reply that I don’t know why I would speak to them any different and that they don’t know what ANY words mean currently as they are learning to speak. So I chose to use words of varying complexity but similar meaning because I would have to explain the meaning and context anyway.
They both have above average vocabularies now, and while they speak to their friends within the tone and inflection that is popular today, they know that I cannot stand that and respect my wishes to speak a bit more eloquently 😆.
Given the various levels of neurodivergence in our family, raging from incredibly intelligent to significant impairment, I wouldn't be surprised if he was on the spectrum. Diagnosis certainly wasn't a thing, even when he passed away when I was 17.
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u/shitboxfesty 16d ago
As a parent of a nonverbal child, this absolutely blows my mind. And gives me hope. I’d be getting a new tattoo that says good morning