Six of a Kind

이십삼: Jimin's Speech Therapy

The idea that Jonghyun had had wasn't foolproof. It could easily backfire. He knew that Namjoon had tried it before, but hadn't stuck to the plan since Jimin was so poorly and the other sextuplets needed attention too. Jonghyun had two hours each day with Jimin in which he was in charge of giving him physical and speech therapy.

Over the past few months before Christmas, Jonghyun had mainly focused on getting Jimin out of his chair and walking. Now that the braces had straightened his legs properly, he was much more stable on his feet. At the beginning of the day, Jimin could toddle pretty well - not as well as a kid his age should walk, but he was getting there. However, by the time it was time for Jimin to go home again, he would be exhausted from his seizures, and struggling to stay upright. Unfortunately, there wasn't much Jonghyun could do about that.

Jimin still had to wear the braces. He would probably have to wear them until he had finished growing. Jimin remained very shaky and weak. It was like his muscles didn't quite have the tone they should. Jonghyun had tried to suggest that Jimin may have cerebral palsy to Namjoon, but the dad had brushed over it quickly, saying that the doctors had told him he was so shaky from having Lennox Gastaut syndrome. Jonghyun wasn't confident enough to keep pushing the point across. Afterall, Namjoon should know his son best, right?

Once Christmas had passed, and Jimin was back in school, Jonghyun spent time with him making lots of little cards with little pictures on them. He wrote the word on one side, and would help Jimin colour and draw a picture of the word on the other side. Jimin was a very talkative child, though nothing that he said made much sense. He just hoped his plan would work.

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Jonghyun knew the plan wouldn't work at school. The majority of the cards were made for home items. Things like 'drink', 'food', 'toilet' he could use there and then, but 'toothbrush', 'brother', 'daddy' would work better at home.

However, he could still teach the words to Jimin before he went home. It wouldn't happen in just one day, but Jonghyun had been supporting controlling his speech for three months now, and he was sure Jimin was ready to speak some new words. He had learnt sign language well, and could respond to those. He had helped teach them to Namjoon too, so the signs could be used at home. If Jimin was non-verbal, or unable to shape words with his mouth, then he would just leave it there. But he knew, if Jimin was just given a chance, he could speak. Jonghyun wasn't going to give up just because it was a little hard.

He decided to start with the easier words first. He sat Jimin onto his lap after lunchtime, and placed the cards out onto the desk. He was going to give them to Namjoon in an hour. He hoped Namjoon would remember to pack them the next day so he could use them again. Jimin poked at the words. He couldn't read.

"Look Jiminie," Jonghyun cooed, signing with one hand before flipping over one of the cars to show a picture of a teddy. "Look! Te-ddy!"

"Bah!"

"Look at the te-ddy, Jiminie. It looks like a soft te-ddy, doesn't it?"

Jimin scratched his nails over the card. He wanted to stroke the teddy, but it just felt like paper. He wanted his chick, but that was at home. He gave a confused little whine.

Jonghyun signed. "Teddy. Speak, Jimin." He touched Jimin's lips.

This was how Jonghyun had spent the last three months whilst making the cards. He would sign easy signs to Jimin, and then he would touch his own lips, and then say a word. He would make Jimin copy his mouth movements, but none of the sounds Jimin made really followed through. It wasn't about him saying the word at that point. He just wanted Jimin to understand the command.