He may not talk yet, but he is one smart cookie!
While I was studying for the Pediatric Board exam only one question I studied remains with me;
If language development is delayed or hindered due to other motor delays such as apraxia, then problem-solving is the best indicator of intelligence.
I have clung to that statement because I know that Noah’s language will be delayed; so I look for his ability to problem-solve every day.
There are various aspects of development and one of those is cognitive development which includes problem-solving as well as language. Problem-solving is the manipulation of objects to achieve a specific goal. Noah has figured out that by using his very flexible lower extremities that he can get things that are out of reach. Pretty cute right? We thought so. His curiosity and exploration of his world continues to amaze us.
Cognitive development starts when a child is born. Some very smart people with PhD’s and MD’s have done the research to see how we can monitor cognitive development from the very first few weeks of life. The very first sign is with a child’s eyes. Tracking is one of the very first milestones your baby will achieve. They will follow faces, followed by objects. We have talked previously about how we waited patiently, ok, maybe not so patiently for Noah to stare at us. Typical babies are able to do this almost at birth, where as children with Down syndrome it may take a few weeks.
Cognitive development often has to wait for the body to catch up with gross and fine motor skills. From gaining head control to look around, to being able to lift a hand to bat at an object or bring it to their mouth; attaining the strength to do these things limits further development. One of the important things in helping children with Down syndrome develop is to make adaptations so they can continue to explore and develop all of their needed skills.
Take for example laying them on their sides to bat at objects so they don’t have to work against gravity. This is why early intervention is so important as all of development works together and delays in one area can filter into others.
The best part about today is that no one taught Noah how to do this, he just figured it out. His goal was to get one of his favorite toys and once he figured out how to grab it with his feet when it was out of reach, he kept doing it over and over again.
The definition of intelligence is the ability to learn, understand or deal with new situations.
I think Noah proved he has a bit of intelligence today. 🙂 Take some time this week to watch your children at play and see if you can catch your child putting their intelligence on display by solving a problem in a creative, child-like way! I think you’ll be amazed at what you’ll catch your child doing. 🙂
What ways have you observed your child showing off their intelligence lately? Please take a minute and leave a comment below telling us about it.
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My just turned 2 year old can't walk yet, but has mastered climbing. He has worked out he can walk holding onto furniture & then use that furniture (chairs, lamp tables) to climb up and get whatever he likes from the kitchen bench! We didn't teach him that :-)
I fear the day Noah figures this out. He is just starting to try to climb on things. Thankfully he doesn't get too far yet.
Hi! My daughter, Amber, turned 2 in April 2012, and her therapists all say that she is very persistant and has a great attention span...for a 2 year old. And they say exactly what you wrote above, that her problem solving skills are great and say a lot about her intelligence. :)
Melody that's awesome! I'm assuming that's your little girl in your avatar picture....she is adorable! :)
Where are you guys from?
I LOVE this post! I work with people with developmental disabilities all the time, and I get tired of hearing others describe them in terms of what they "can't" do. How do we know? When language and physical development are delayed, how do we know -what- a child knows?
So true! We have to broaden our view of intelligence :)
Hi guys, my daughter Grace is 20 months and surprises us everyday with different things! How she takes everything in and you can see her learning!!!
She has a little wind mill that you hold and blow to make spin, she can't blow it but she figured out if she flicks her wrist it will spin for her! She also figured out that she can only hold it at the end of the stick or the windmill will hit her hand and not work so if i hand it too her she will move position of her hand before she tries it!!
Makes me smile everytime i see her do it!! Love the site guys!!
Thanks!!! It is so fun to watch our kids figure things out :)
LOVE this post! My favorite moment like this was when the occupational therapist put a ball under a chair at our house, hoping to get James to navigate around the chair to get the ball. James looked at Jeff, looked at the ball, then simply pushed the chair out of the way and grabbed the ball! Cracked me up. I'm sure James was thinking, "Why does he always want me to do it the hard way?"
Love it!!! I like that he did something different then what the OT wanted but got the same result :)
This is so true my (step) nephew Collin was a 26 weeker and spent the first three months in the NICU having surgery and respitory issues. He could only army crawl and could not transition from laying to sitting etc. At about 14 months he came to our family when my brother remarried and I got to spend lots of time with him. His parents both worked nights and I days so when I got off they would be at my work to drop him off and then I would drop him at there work in the morning. We used every minute of his waking hours to work on his development. I could tell he was very smart he just couldnt figure out to do what he wanted so we worked on crawling, transition to sit and back, mouth closure, using his hemi side (helper hand), oral stim as he only wanted to eat oatmeal/pudding consistency, not W sitting, pulling up, walking around tables, to using rear walker for short time, then walking indepently, plus we did basic sign language so we got rid of the hollaring when he wanted something, He did all this from late April to September. He know is 5 and goes to school, he walks, talks, uses his helper hand automatically, and can run and he can jump getting both feet off the floor. He is awesome he collects the eggs from the chickens and figured out how to carry more than one egg at a time he began holding the bottom of his shirt and filled it with eggs. He is absolutley awesome and it shows that the dedication to these wonderful children is all they need.
What a great story! What an awesome Aunt you are. You sound like quite the therapist :):):)
My Andrew is 7, and has Down Syndrome and Autism. He is non-verbal but has ALWAYS been an excellent problem-solver. I remember when he was about 15 months old, he figured out how to climb onto the chair (and soon after, the bookcases...). He used to roll over to the chair, throw his bottle into the seat, and then climb up. He was showing better planning skills than his big brothers!! At 18 mos, his ST told us to encourage speech by putting his favorite toys in a clear plastic bin so he'd have to find a way to request the toys. Well, within 20 minutes, he figured out how to pop the lid off--by pushing the bin against the china cabinet, flipping it on its side, climbing up and bouncing til the lid popped. Once he did it, he could do it again and again. Nowadays, he's able to unbuckle his car seat and does so whenever the car stops, even at a red light. We're working on that and he's learning quickly. He can climb anywhere. He one day climbed to get a bowl, put an intact can of ravioli in the bowl, put the bowl in the microwave and pushed a button (thankfully, not "start").
A few weeks ago (he's 7 now), I decided to teach him to put away his own laundry. I figured, by summer's end, maybe. But I just said "put them in"--he sorted and put them in the right drawers. Which made me feel so awful for under-estimating him. The autism part is hard because it just doesn't occur to him to let us know what he can do. With his IQ test, he didn't participate in many things that I knew he could do in his sleep...he's just not motivated to please the tester by answering her questions. She said he's clearly a ton smarter than he tests, though.
And you know what? He's not just smart, he's also joyful and sweet and wonderful. So I say "pttthwwrrr" to the stupid IQ tests...
I say it with you :):):) I would have loved to see him get the toys I bet that was quite funny :)
My son Warren is 6 (almost 7) and he does experience some language delays. At home he speaks in 3-4 word sentences with prompting, at school I gather he sticks with 1-2 words. Anyway, the other day he went with Daddy to the park after it had rained. Eventually he decided to slide, but was distraught that the slide was wet. Daddy wiped the slide with his sleeve which was apparently not good enough and Warren played on the landing for a few. Soon he asked Daddy to sit. Then he asked Daddy to slide. As Daddy was getting in position Warren climbed into his lap and wrapped his arms around like a seat belt.....and that was how Warren slid without getting a wet bottom. :)
I've been told Warren has very good "fluid reasoning skills". His OT came out to talk to me at the end of his last session and for his free choice activity at the end he picked a 25 piece cars puzzle. I thought I had told her about him and puzzles, but she came out and informed me that he's a "puzzle master". :)
awwww...that's the kind of stuff that Noah does that makes me melt! :)
Warren sounds like an awesome boy. So cool that he is a puzzle master. I used to think I was awesome as a child because I'd put puzzles together backwards! hahaha
Where are you guys from?
We're from central Oregon. It's high desert, so not the Oregon most people picture, drier with more tumbleweeds. :) we're from CA originally, but have been pretty settled here for a couple years now.
Warren had his last day of kindergarten yesterday! I can't believe he's on the way to first grade!
@Warren's Mom
Wow, kindergarten. :( Noah's about to start a preschool, and we get sad just thinking about him being gone all day, but we also know he'll have a blast meeting new friends.
How did Warren like Kindergarten? Do you guys have anything fun planned for the summer?
Warren really enjoyed kindergarten, we'll see what he thinks of school once it's a full day. (here kindergarten is only half day) Much to the consternation of his teachers he refuses to eat at school, so that could get interesting.
No huge plans this summer. He's been doing therapeutic horse riding since January which we hope to keep doing, and possibly thinking about swim lessons again.
Is Noah planning anything fun?
You know, Noah is a huge fan of the pool so I think we'll be heading out to the pool for some summer fun.
Be sure to keep us posted on how things go with the all day school. :)
Noah's about to start an all day program in August...it's bitter sweet.
My son, Max, is 18 months old. The other day I stepped out of the room momentarily. After just a couple of minutes I noticed the living room get very quite. I discovered Max watching his favorite DVD. He had figured out how to turn on the Blu-ray player all by himself!
That's awesome, Max sounds like a super cool (and super smart) little dude! :)
By the way, what's his favorite DVD?
We've put all Warren's movies in a CD wallet so we can put them up and away. He gets up first, and if he can he'll get up at 5am and set up a movie.
It's also super funny to me that he won't identify his numbers at school but if you ask him, he knows that the TV needs to be on (input) 6 to watch movies. :)
@Warren's Mom
Ha,ha..now that's funny!
What are some of his favorite movies? Noah's a huge fan of the Sprout channel. (And I have no shame in admitting that I know Sprout is channel 295 on DirectTV from going there so much!) :)
He's super into Pixar movies, the incredibles has been big lately. Rio is another favorite. As much as I hate to admit it, he LOVES mamma mia. The way I con him into wearing his glasses in the car is requiring them before I put on the soundtrack. We listen to it everywhere we go.
That's awesome, our whole house is into Pixar movies also! I can't wait to see Finding Nemo in 3-D (Which is coming out this summer.)
By the way, you should try to get a picture of him wearing those glasses and post it to the Facebook page! :)
For over a year, my precocious little Ellie has taken to pushing boxes, stools, books, etc to babygates/dressers/counters and then climbing on top of them to reach objects that are a no-no. The latest involved her quest for vaseline. She opening all of her dresser drawers and used them as stairs to reach the vaseline on top of the dresser. Then,she fingered out how to open the jar of vaseline (and coat it everywhere!).
I absolutely love your child, she cracks me up. I am sure you don't find all of her antics as funny as we do :) I hope one day these two can get into some trouble together.