One of the things that has been so heartening during this whole process with Avery is the support we’ve gotten from friends and family. People have been so sweet and caring – offering to help with Zoe, sending little gifts, and in the case of my mom-friends, just listening. And a parent from the preschool – someone with a background in neurology and psychology – even put a positive spin on things, writing to me:

I know you are worried that she hasn’t been able to hear so well and feel badly about it. But, from what I know about brain development and plasticity, if less of the brain is being used for a particular skill or ability (like speech, for example), other abilities and skills encroach on that brain area and can become highly developed. So, Avery’s speech delay could potentially mean that she has acquired, possibly for life, another specialized skill like excellent perception, sensitive experience of touch, rich imagination, etc. This could even be an advantage long-term – since obviously her language acquisition will catch up quickly and efficiently (the brain is extremely plastic for this up until about age 10-13).

This e-mail came to me at just the right time today. I’m not sure if Avery has, indeed, developed another specialized skill – but even the possibility is comforting!

-M

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012 at 4:00 pm and is filed under 70.Two kids-May 12. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.