No Talking Communication

The oddest thing about this autism spectrum is that Miles is nearly 2 1/2 Years old and he cannot look at me and say 'dad' or look at Carrie and say 'mom'. Overall, we are struggling to get him to mouth sounds to aid him in talking at some point. There are several things that collide through my brain when I think about this. First, I used to muse in the beginning of Miles' life that the first thing he would likely do is talk because that's all we do in this house. Secondly, I am putting my college degree major, communication studies, to the test in understanding the path we take as humans to communicate with each other. I have often said that 70 percent of our communication behaviors are non-verbal. Thus, I usually know what Miles is saying or feeling without him saying a word. Again, this is one of those scenarios that is hard to fully absorb when I hear friends and read articles that have kids at 1 or 1 1/2 speaking proficiently with a varied vocabulary. Many times a day I watch Miles frentically sign and wonder what his small kid voice will sound like when he begins talking. Furthermore, I can't wait for him to banter, dawdle and annoy me with his plentitude of words that I dream about like a far distant retirement that I hope I see sooner than later.