FISH!

One of our most recent struggles has been repetitious use of words out of context. One example is that Little Bug now says- buh bye Fish!- to everyone. More and more objects are becoming FISH!

While Little Bug is very proud of his words, he is also very adamant that what he is saying accurate- even when corrected. Case in point, the other night, I ran a bath for him and then put him in it. He looks at me and smiles, "Lice, da, Lice!" I am most certain that he meant NICE, but there was no convincing him the LICE was not the same as NICE- nice is also stated as MICE in our house.

Needless to say this makes every day an adventure that is sometimes filled with discussions.
A typical dialogue:

Little Bug points to a waiter- FISH
Daddy Blake- No, he is a person.
Little Bug- FISH!
Daddy Blake- No, PERSON
Little Bug- adamantly and louder- FISH! FISH! FISH!
Daddy Blake- turns red and wants to disappear- Bug, he is a PERSON. NO FISH!

We are unsure of how to help him with this. Certainly, more signs will help. As his vocabulary grows, so will his ability to express his knowledge. I truly believe that he knows the difference between a fish and a person, and yet, without the right words, how does he demonstrate this?

Does the fact that he can't say person mean he is behind? No, it means we have to find a way to get that information out.

On Monday, we have a cognitive evaluation- basically, what's going on inside his little noggin. I am very nervous about this. This field is *not* level. I am unsure how you would accurately test some one's cognitive ability when they have only 40 words- between sign and speech. At this point in time, we can't really tell what he truly understands when spoken to.

All I can say about Monday is this: I will be his advocate and try to represent his cognitive abilities the best I can. I will voice my concerns regarding the test. I will also allow him to have his say... whatever that will be.

For now, FISH!