Carie Tenzel’s son, Chaz Tenzel-Walser, is 15 years old. When he was diagnosed with autism, the doctor told her that he would never graduate from high school and would “most likely need special care for the rest of his life,” the April 5th TimesDaily.com (Alabama) reports. Now Chaz is doing this:
He’s attended mainstream classes since kindergarten, plays trumpet in the Dale County High School Marching Band and is on track toward an advanced high school honors diploma.
One thing that stood out in the TimesDaily.com’s article about Chaz and his mother is that he was delayed in reaching some of his gross motor milestones as a baby. He did not crawl until he was 10 months old, and then crawled backward.
My son Charlie was also late to reach his gross motor milestones as a baby. He rolled over once at the age of four months and then never again until he was nine months old; I realize, in retrospect, that his big head and long, lanky limbs must have made a lot to coordinate. He sat up on his own when he was in his seventh month. He did not crawl but, at eleven months, started scooting around on his derrière with his left leg extended and his right leg tucked in close to his body (as it had been when Charlie was just born). Charlie walked at sixteen months and stood on his own around the same time (and still preferred to cling to the wall or furniture or our hands).
Charlie did learn to ride a bike without training wheels when he was six (thanks in no small part to Jim’s efforts) but must have been around seven when he started to put out his hands to catch himself as he fell. Hopping and skipping came at the age of eight: Again, Charlie is top-heavy with a big head and his legs and arms just keep growing, and his sense of balance has developed slowly. Charlie was nine when he was able to catch a ball.
Some parents have told me that their children also had such delays, while others have said that their child did not. Indeed, some parents whose children met all their gross and fine motor milestones then had other delays in social and communicative skills.
Even though it has often taken longer for Charlie to acquire many gross motor skills, once he gets them, he gets them. And he’s quite the walker now.
译文:
你的孩子是否能在关键时期学到她（他）所有的运动技能？【孤僻症的声音】
凯丽坦泽尔的儿子查兹坦泽尔华瑟今年15岁。当他去诊断孤僻症的时候，医生告诉坦泽尔夫人他将再也不能接受高等学校教育并将“很有可能在他往后的日子里需要特殊的照料”，4月5日时代日报网站（阿拉巴马）报导。现在查兹正在做的事是：
他自上幼儿园以来一直参加主流课程的学习，目前在戴尔县中学的鼓号队吹小号，并正为获得高等中学毕业文凭而努力。
时代日报网站上对查兹和他母亲的评论中比较突出的一点是查兹在婴儿时期就已经在学习某些运动技能方面表现得有些迟缓。他直到10个月大才学会爬行，紧接着才学会倒着爬。
我的儿子查理在他婴儿时期学运动技能也比较晚。他在四个月的时候翻过一次身然后就再也没有过，直到九个月大的时候才又会翻身。回想起来，我意识到他的大脑袋和他瘦长的胳臂在协调上一定比较费劲。他7个月的时候能自己坐起来。11个月的时候，他还不会爬，却开始用他伸展的左腿快速地够后背，同时右腿盘起来靠近身体（就像他刚出生的时候那样）。查理在16个月的时候会走，同时能自己站起来（但仍喜欢贴着墙、靠着家具或者依赖我们的手）。
在查理6岁的时候他没怎么练习就学会了骑自行车（这很大程度上由于吉姆的帮助），但是他直到大概7岁的时候才开始学会跌倒的时候伸手帮助自己起来。8岁的查理开始蹦蹦跳跳：但还是由于他的大脑袋导致头比较重，而腿和胳臂还刚开始长，所以他的平衡感还是发育的比较慢。当他能接球的时候查理已经9岁了。
一些父母告诉过我他们的孩子也有这些（学习运动技能的）延迟，而其他的父母也告诉我他们的孩子没有这种情况。确实，对于一些父母来说，他们的孩子能在关键时期很好地学会运动技能而在社交技能方面有些延缓。
对于查理来说，即使在学会一些运动技能方面通常需要相对长的时间，但是一旦他学会了，他就真正掌握了，现在他就走得很好。