When you parent a child with a severe communication disorder, you ask yourself a lot of questions:

What caused this? Will she ever talk? Will it always be this way? Why is her behaviour so challenging today? Is she feeling okay? Did someone hurt her? How can I help her? When will she speak?

You buy PECS cards and visual schedule boards, attend SALT workshops, consider buying tech devices to help with communication, and maybe even learn Makaton or another sign language.

You spend hours researching online, worrying out loud with your spouse, and perhaps you pray. You pray for a word. A single word. And when you hear her say it, you rejoice, because maybe she’s already six years old and only just speaking her first word!

Then you pray for a short phrase. You long for it. Verbal communication. And one day she jumps on daddy in bed, shouting, “wake up wake up!” Maybe you cuddle at night and tell her you love her, then hear “I wuv you,” in reply. Your heart bursts with joy.

You pray for yes and no, for please and thank you, and eventually the words come. “No” was much easier for Beth. No was her favourite word for a long time, as she tried everything to avoid the things we needed her to do. But just lately, when she’s in a happy and well-regulated state, I’ve noticed her saying “yes, mama” quite often; tear-jerking for this mama.

Encouraged by the progress, you start to wonder if she will ever ask a question. Then one day she says, “daddy, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

This girl continues to surprise and delight us. One day, she will come home and tell me how her day at school went. One day, she will be able to tell me what activities she did and who she played with.

Until then, I rely on her teachers to communicate through the app. I rely on others to keep her safe throughout the school day. And I pray. She has come so far. What will she surprise us with next?

Original writing by Jennifer Johnson ~ Dedicated to Bethany