Finding His Voice
Aiden Quanzon can easily be described as a social butterfly. He is bright eyed and eager, and a kid who can “go with the flow.” Not a lot of people would know that this little boy has dealt with his fair share of struggle to get where he is today. Aiden’s mother, Nicole, a former special education teacher, and father, David, a registered nurse, of Cranford, New Jersey, watched excitedly as their son’s walking and gross motor skills seemed to be miles ahead of other not yet twelve month old infants. The first time parents were ecstatic.
Their excitement, however, turned to concern when they realized that at a year old, aside from the occasional babble of “mama,” and “dada,” Aiden wasn’t speaking. After the pediatrician found fluid in Aiden’s ears at a young age, Nicole attributed that to Aiden’s lack in verbal communication.
“I thought the fluid was causing Aiden to not hear properly,” said Nicole. “I figured he couldn’t form words correctly since he couldn’t hear them.”
According to The World Health Organization, acquired causes of hearing loss such as chronic ear infections or fluid in the ears can lead to hearing loss at any age. Over five percent of the world’s population, 360 million people, has hearing loss, and 32 million of them are children.
The fluid in Aiden’s ears was monitored over several months, and at four months old, the fluid was gone, but his communication problem remained.
By the time Aiden was seven months old, with confusion and very little progress, frustration was mounting for parents and child.
“It was very difficult. Aiden was screaming a lot at home because he couldn’t tell us what he needed or wanted,” said Nicole.
Concerned, Aiden’s pediatrician suggested an alternate route for the Guanzons to take; one that would change not only Aiden’s, but Nicole and David’s lives as well. Nicole was already aware of the services they provided and the good that Children’s Specialized Hospital did for children with special needs; so when Aiden’s pediatrician advised to have him evaluated there, they took him to Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside, New Jersey to begin their search for answers.
There, the family met with developmental pediatrician, Malia Beckwith who, after doing a full evaluation on Aiden, complete with an autism screening, completing puzzles, and other hands on tests, diagnosed him with isolated expressive language disorder.
“Expressive language disorder is a deficit in the ability to use verbal language at a level expected for Aiden's chronologic age,” Dr. Beckwith explained. “As only Aiden's expressive language skills are impaired, he has demonstrated excellent receptive language, which is his language of understanding.”
After analysis, Dr. Beckwith determined speech therapy was the best course of treatment for Aiden, a therapy he is currently receiving once a week under the care of Michelle Plotnick, Speech Therapist.
The enthusiastic two-year old, loves to have fun. Michelle has Aiden use signs and gestures to communicate what he wants, as well as an i-pad with voice output to express himself verbally during sessions. Nicole and David stay actively involved in their son’s therapy in every way possible. His sessions are only once a week, but the dedicated parents are determined to take any lessons home, making any opportunity an opportunity for learning, a trait that Beckwith says is a joy to watch.
“This wrap-around approach is so important in order to use every learning opportunity, and to ensure generalization of skills acquired in therapy sessions to other environments,” said Dr. Beckwith.
“My husband and I work very closely with the speech therapist,” said Nicole. “It is that kind of collaborative relationship that has allowed our son to build the bond he has with her now.”
Nicole explains that the close bond between patient and therapist took months to establish. It amazes her how far her son has really come. She watched Aiden go from being so attached he wouldn’t leave her side to now, through working with Michelle, happily leading Nicole to the speech therapy room every week on his own.
Since starting his journey at Children’s Specialized Hospital, Nicole and David have seen Aiden undergo what many would consider a transformation.
“He has a lot to say and is frustrated when he cannot get his message across,” said Plotnik. “He has made a lot of progress in his play, social skills and expressive language in a short period of time.”
Although still non-verbal, Aiden can now perform tasks that before seemed impossible. A daily therapeutic technique is the integration of picture and word boards to assist in communicating, which Aiden uses regularly at home with his parents. Nicole and David are thrilled with his progress, and Nicole only hopes for one thing in Aiden’s future.
“One day I hope to hear his voice,” she said.
The Guanzons would definitely say this past year has been a whirlwind of many questions, and under the guiding light of Children’s Specialized Hospital, they have been getting the answers.
David Guanzon recently told his wife, Nicole, “For the first time, I don’t have to struggle to understand Aiden anymore.”
To any parent with a child who has special needs, that realization is powerful.