When your child suddenly spouts out a new word, sound, or sentence type, it’s a cause for celebration! How exciting — they’ve learned something new!
And then… it disappears. You try to tell your spouse or friend or therapist about this new accomplishment and get your child to show off their new skill and… nothing. It’s enough to make you question your sanity!
This is actually very, very normal. Frustrating, but normal (like so many things with child development!). Think about it: when you are learning to hit a baseball with a bat, do you do it well and consistently every time you try? Not at all! You swing and miss far, far more often than you connect with the ball, let alone hit a home run.
Celebrate those wins when your child demonstrates a new skill. Don’t pressure them to repeat it. Instead, keep using all of the great auditory verbal strategies you used to help him accomplish this goal in the first place. Just like learning baseball, the more you practice, the better and more consistent you get. Soon, I hope you’re seeing home runs on a regular basis!
Elizabeth A. Rosenzweig 