Say that again? Don’t mumble

Sometimes the things little kids say can really make laugh. Like when Ellie, our three year old takes over a room and says, “Alwight you guys, listen up! No talking, no singing, no jumping.”

Other things they say really make you stop and think. Like when Ellie came home from Sunday School excited to sing us a new song: “Jeswus wuvs the wittle childwen.” You probably thought that you know this song, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight…

But are you familiar with the second verse? “Jeswus died from all the childwen…”

Did you catch that? From not for. Although, if you want to get deep into the theological doctrines of original sin, it might just be that He died FROM our sins, not merely FOR them.

And of course, it’s just plain cute to listen to how two and three year olds speak, “PINK, itz mah favowite colowr!”

But imagine if you still couldn’t speak any better than a two year old now. It would be pretty difficult, wouldn’t it? You might even feel trapped. You probably wouldn’t be taken very seriously. People would assume that you weren’t as intelligent as you are just because you aren’t as intelligible as they are.

That’s how life is for Ellie’s older sister Grace. Once an older kid even asked if she was “retarded.” All the tests and assessments that she took in preschool and kindergarten report that she is right on grade level in terms of thinking, knowledge, understanding, intelligence and problem solving.

For years we’ve taken Grace (who’s almost six) to various doctors, experts, speech therapists, and even a chairopractor to find out what was wrong with her. She has a speech impediment, delayed motor skills, and trouble with bathroom control. A number of people suggested to us that she may have “Dysarthria,” sort of a delayed development of her muscles and nerves.

Two weeks ago she was screened and accepted into a speech therapy program at the Monroe Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Our insurance company had refused to cover speech therapy unless there was evidence that her need was caused by some kind of trauma after birth. Imagine a 4 or 5 year old having to undergo MRI tests to rule out spine and brain damage. Finally, she is being sponsored by a family friend who's a member of the Scottish Rite, it's sort of like the Shriner's.

As a theologically conservative Lutheran, I've always had my qualms about Free Masonry and any other quasai-Arab, fraternal organizations. The biggest qualm is just that they’re secret societies. There are questions of works-righteousness, there are suspicions of deism. And of course there are the funny hats.

You know what? I thank God for these people and their charitable work, otherwise, we'd never be able to afford to get her the best help that she needs. God uses all kind of people to accomplish good things. What does it matter why they do what they do or who they’re associated with? Jesus said that you can judge a tree by it’s fruit. So God bless you Shriners and Scottish Rite-wingers and you funny hats too. Thank you for what you do for children.

The specialist at Monroe Meyer said that from his examination, he thinks that it is more likely that our daughter suffers from Apraxia.

Apraxia is caused by “damage to the corpus callosum, frontal lobe, or parietal lobe of the human brain produces a category of deficits called apraxia. Literally, the term means ‘without action,’ but apraxia differs from paralysis or weakness that occurs when motor structures such as the precentral gyrus, basal ganglia, brain stem, or spinal cord are damaged. Apraxia is the "inability to properly execute a learned skilled movement" Neuropsychological studies of the apraxias have provided information about the way skilled behaviors are organized and initiated.”

“There are four major types of apraxia… Limb apraxia refers to problems with movements of the arms, hands, and fingers. Oral apraxia refers to problems with movements of the muscles used in speech.” (http://www.apraxia-kids.org/)

It would make sense to me if Grace has both of these. A pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital thought that Grace might merely have developmental delay or what they called dis-coordination. All I know is that Grace and Ellie basically learned how to climb a ladder and mastered pedaling a bike at about the same time. Dance class has helped a her a lot with coordination, but she still can’t quite skip and the tumbling and gymnastics that they do is a major challenge.

My best guess is still that this was caused by having her umbilical chord wrapped around her neck during her birth. Part of me is bitter that the HMO didn't have their doctors taker her by C-Section much sooner than they did, but I know that all things work for the good of those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28) and that God has a plan to use this to His advantage to bless my daughter, and others through her.

I'm told that Apraxia is sort of a cousin to Dislexia. That makes sense. Grace usually writes most of her letters fine, but instead of saying "Macaroni and Cheese," she says "Ronimac and Cheese." Sometimes it looks like she’s writing her letters in a mirror, but most kids do that sort of thing up until fourth grade or so. In fact, she’s really bright. She loves reading and has started tackling Dr. Suess on her own, without any prompting.

What Grace has taught me that I’d like to pass on to you, is that you can’t judge a radio by its announcer. Or a book by its cover. People may be far deeper, smarter, and more complicated than their vocabulary would ever make you think.

She is incredibly sensitive, kind, patient, creative and fun. People who meet her almost always describe her as friendly, bubbly, effervescent, exuberant and easy going. Of course, don’t ask her to pronounce any of those words.