Welcome to Micahese

Micah, being non-verbal, is far from being quiet. There are days that I wish it was so, just like there are days that I secretly wish any one of my children would just be quiet for about seventeen minutes so that I can find my sanity in peace and quiet.

Micah is noisy, to say the least. Non-verbal is a misleading term. He's verbal, just not coherent. It's like listening to someone in hysterics, making babbling noises that just can't be made sense of no matter how much you try to decipher. Take this phrase, for example:

Nyuh nAAAAAAA gah

He uttered that little gem on the way to church, while excitedly pointing out the window. Hand up the one who knows what he was talking about.

Yeh, me neither. Or at least I wouldn't know if I hadn't caught what he was excitedly pointing at. A corn maze sign. Clearly, that's what he said. And if you use your imagination you could clearly see (hear?) how it's definitely "corn maze sign" that he said.

*ahem*

The problem being, that while we could all use our imaginations to pretend we're hearing what we think we know he's saying, if the sign wouldn't have been clearly visible I would have been clueless. Mostly because those are some of the same words and sounds he uses to describe 87% of the things that the sees.

Also, I'm a bit impressed that he was that excited over a corn maze sign. It has nothing but words on it. Sure, Sam and I are in charge of the smooth running of the month-long event. And yes, it's hosted at our church. And of course Micah is there to help/be in the way every time we're there. And there's no doubt that he absolutely loves the maze and all that it entails.

But does this mean that he can read?

13 comments:

Karen Deborah said...

sure it does!

Molly said...

That's a good question! He's clearly a smart cookie, so I'm going to go with maybe? I know, that answer is very helpful. He definitely recognized the sign. Is it the same sign each year?

The Sports Mama said...

How freakin' awesome would that be???

Also? Only 17 minutes? I've only got 2 noisemakers here, and I easily need at least 38 minutes of quiet time a day. :)

HalfAsstic.com said...

Karen, I don't think I have any doubt that Micah is quite clever. Did he see the signs at the church or at your house before they were put up maybe, so that he knew to associate them with the corn maze? Or do you think he was reading the words phonically?

imbeingheldhostage said...

Well he can certainly recognize things and mentally place them with subjects (or in this case events) and isn't that what we all do? Didn't we see the word "dog" so many times and associate it with barking furry things? He's definitely a smart little guy.

I'll take those 17 minutes and raise you an hour... please.

TUC said...

I'd settle for a silent ten minutes :-)

Hmm, he may not be able to read but he sure can recognize the words "corn maze" which is close enough! Smart little guy.

Anonymous said...

And here I thought I was being ambitious just hoping for 5 minutes! I think Micah getting so excited over the sign is a combination of lots of things - the most exciting being that he will be a reader! GO MICAH!

Michelle said...

Oh that is so cool. I didn't even think about that part. If he isn't reading, he's at the VERY least using the pre-reading skills that we're working on so hard over here. Go, Micah!

Michelle said...

It's very possible that he sure was paying attention to those signs and then recognized it!

Stephanie said...

That sounds like some word recognition to me!!

Kimberly Wright said...

I know two non-verbal children that can read so I think it is definitely possible.

CC said...

I can totally "hear" him now as I serve a lot of kids that do the same thing!!

And I have one student in particular that is TOTALLY non-verbal (except when he screams). G-tube fed, etc. etc. and he can totally read basic things. He blows our mind when we realize what he is capable of. I've even started removing pictures from his AAC device and just left him with words.

Roger Miller said...

I believe it does, unless all the signs are exactly the same and he can understand the meaning of each. Like when a child recognizes a McDonald's sign, can they actually read it, or does their mind put two and two together. Either way, I would say that he may not read it the same way that we do, but he clearly understands what the sign means.

In my humble opinion, of course.