Overcoming language disorders in the most unexpected places.

For millions of children to world over, language disorders and deficits are a major obstacle to just about everything. I remember Conor’s teacher saying to me once that ‘he was so intelligent but fundamentally unteachable‘. Imagine saying all that in just one sentence.

So like so many other parents, we had these wonderfully intelligent twin boys who were barred from the world because they were language disordered. They could not communicate, period. Or could they? Val and I spent a lot of sleepless nights worrying about how we could get around this seemingly impossible conundrum. This was before we started to understand the power of Disney media and began developing the boys along the lines described elsewhere on this site.

In the midst of this it occurred to us that for the greater part the boys were intelligent well beyond the language they possessed to express this thought. And they we mad about physical activity. They ran just everywhere and always on the tip of their toes. Yes, they were real energizer bunnies if not totally disorganized and everywhere at once.

Where to start? Well, where does every little darling start if its not happening at school? So Val started asking around about Gymnastics. I guess it was intuitive but we couldn’t imagine teaching a forward roll by sitting down and discussing the maneuver.

We met with Mike the owner of our closest gym in Rohnert Park, aptly known as Rohnert Park Gymnastics and not far from where we lived in Santa Rosa. In as much as possible (we were trying to figure this out ourselves) we explained a bit about the boys, language disorders and what we were hoping to achieve. The boys were with us and for once were somewhat well behaved. I was just praying that they wouldn’t run off and jump on something and get us all thrown out.

As Mike walked us around the Gym I looked up at the roof. It was full of banners celebrating state and national awards for both their girls and boys gymnastics teams. Some of California’s leading gymnasts has graduated from this school and their coaches were legendary. I started to think about this and my heart started to sink. This was a long way from the language pathologist’s clinic and language disorders. What are the chances these guys will work with the unteachable and unreachable?

Mike was undaunted and clearly was interested in the boys. He was used to challenges and this was just another one. They look pretty healthy to me and well turned out, he commented. You guys must be communicating with your children, maybe we can learn from you! He just wanted either Val or I to participate in the classes with the boys and help out with communication. We were amazed and relieved all at once.

And so began a journey of discovery for everyone. Over time the boys not only learned gymnastics but participated in parties, team events and competitions. They learned beside and together with the future leading Californian gymnasts. They were quickly accepted as equals in group classes in a way that would have been unimaginable on that first day we met Mike.

The boys learned organization, turn taking, collaboration and most importantly they made friends. Their experiences at Rohnert Park gymnastics also acted as a gateway to several other sports activities from athletics to tennis, all of which the boys ultimately excelled in and loved.

And for Val and I, it made us more certain than ever that intellectual ability and language disorders were very, very different things.