Reply to How likely is it a six-year-old with a developmental delay to catch up?

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Reply to "How likely is it a six-year-old with a developmental delay to catch up?"

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[quote=Anonymous]I know this is a place for the parents for most part but I’m someone with developmental delay and I’m 19yo. I didn’t get much support for it on average (I got it when I was 5-6 to learn to communicate and a year before I started college so I could get a “catch up”[I know it doesn’t sound perfect but I don’t know how to put it any better]). I know most cases aren’t like mine. My delay is mild and the gap is just about 5-6 years (apparently I think like a 14yo). But the most startling thing for me was that until last year NO ONE told me anything about it. Today I keep wondering if I could be better off if I had known earlier. Maybe I’d be able to get a part time job without having to get stared weirdly by the employer (or have that pointed out to me by someone else). Maybe I could understand that (theoretically) funny conversation amongst my roommates. Or maybe even be able to finish high school without being held back. But at the same time I don’t think I would have tried as hard to learn how to do the things I can today if I knew about it earlier. The constant expectation of being “normal” that hanged over my head was a powerful (not necessarily positive) motivator. I usually don’t even get close to what is expected but at the same time it’s something I’m always striving for. Sure, it does get frustrating when that happens (basically always) but at least I did my very best. All I’m trying to say is that it doesn’t matter if we “catch up” or not. People are still going to judge regardless. My parents basically made the decision to have me see that with my own eyes. I recognize that people have expectations, they react differently when they aren’t met, and I can very rarely meet them. I really believe that I can only be living on my own today because of it. I never “caught up” but I learned how to live without ever needing to “catch up”. Don’t worry about whether or not it’s possible (I don’t even know if it’s possible). Just try your best and show your son that he can try his best too. The road here hasn’t been pretty or easy but there are a lot of us that get there. [/quote]

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