Comments on: Reading With Your Toddler

By: Carrie

Carrie — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:21:19 +0000

Reading to toddlers lays the foundation for their independent reading later on. Their imagination develops, enthusiasm and their ability to create stories on their own too. Mothers should have a time for reading before bedtime. A 15-30 minutes would help them discover the world of being Independence.

By: Lib

Lib — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:06:48 +0000

Another great post Heidi. I also wanted to know that you have been tagged as a Rockin Girl Blogger, so much you provide to us parents :) - http://not-much-more.blogspot.com/2007/07/ive-been-tagged-as-rockin-girl-blogger.html

By: Heidi

Heidi — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 05:16:02 +0000

Catherine,

It sounds like you and your daughter are on the right road. I’ll be anxious to hear how things go.

Best wishes,
Heidi

By: Catherine

Catherine — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:00:07 +0000

Yeah, the doctor and I have talked about autism more than once. He doesn’t think she’s severely autistic (she’s very loving and social with people that she knows, it just takes her a while to warm up, and makes decent, though not constant, eye contact). He thinks a spectrum disorder is possible though. If there isn’t a physical/neurological cause though, I think probably the several ear infections she had between ages 1 and 2 (she hit all milestones until 3) and familial factors (her father was deployed for 16 months, during most of her second year) have contributed. She’s now slowed the recitation quite a bit, and is moving, ever so slowly, into creative language. Just about 6 months behind her peers, it looks like to me. But she’s still definitely getting evaluated, because the sooner I can get her into conversational language, the better.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 04:23:53 +0000

Catherine,

You should definitely have her evaluated as soon as you are able to. Repeating stories word for word but not being able to talk about them or incorporate them into conversation could be a sign of autism. I hope this is not the case but it is always better to find out for sure.

If you’d like some information regarding the signs and symptoms of autism this website has some good information: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/autism/DS00348/DSECTION=2

By: Catherine

Catherine — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:58:30 +0000

This is one area where I feel like I’ve done all I can. I’ve been reading to my 4 year-old since she was a newborn, and she knows probably 20 or so of her books by heart, and all of them by sight. She even recites the stories, word for word, during car rides. What I can’t get her to do is converse about them. Her speech “cautions” lie in conversation. She even enunciates very well. She just doesn’t seem to want to speak in unfamiliar exchanges. Is that hereditary? Her father is quite shy, but I was a very verbal and outgoing toddler. She’s getting there, and sometimes she wanders into creative language, but not nearly often enough. One frustration with having a summer baby is that her well-child appointments are when the school district is out of session, so we have to wait until August for “further evaluation.” Yeehaw.