"I want that!"

Xavier has been seeing a speech therapist since last year to help him with his communication. Yes he is 2 and a half, I hear you say, but up untill now his communication has been in the form of gesturing/pointing and grunting. He does say some words, but not really in a conversation form. When he talks it is more that he is pointing something out to me and has learnt the corresponding word to that item - like he will point to his shoe and say "shoe" or to a tree and say "tree". There are a few things that he has learnt by imitation as well, like when he tells my mum and dad's dog to "sit" and when Dad and I took Xavier shopping for my mum's birthday handbag and my dad taught him the "go team" thing. Other than those things, when he tries to communicate with me he will point and grunt. If he wants a drink, for example he will take my hand and lead me to the fridge, then tap on the fridge and grunt - he doesn't actually come out and say "I want a drink". A two and a half year old should be able to hold a basic conversation. You should be able to ask them what they want on a sandwich and they should be able to think about the options and choose one, for example. Many tantrums have resulted over the past few months when the pointing and grunting haven't been quite enough for me to establish what exactly Xavier wants. It is very frustrating for both him and me, so the speech therapist has been working with us so that I can teach him to actually verbalise what he wants or needs. We have been using hand signs and picture boards for him to point to, which really have helped a lot.

You can imagine my delight the other day when Xavier pointed to a tub of yoghurt in our fridge and said so clearly "I want that". I nearly fell over with surprise! I picked up the yoghurt and asked him "You want this? You want some yoghurt?" and he said "want yoghurt". Well I got that lid off the yoghurt and got him a spoon quick smart, and when he saw that his need had been met he squealed in delight and clapped. It was like a lightbulb moment for him, and I tell you what, it made my week!!