Contents

If you are seeing any indications that your daughter is not developing as she should or even if you feel a nagging sense that something is not right get some professional help. The first stop should always be the pediatrician however not all pediatricians have the time in their 15 min appts to do much to evaluate a child. While some pediatricians are very up on development others are more medically focused and may miss signs that a child needs help. So after your pediatrician I would look up your county's office of special education and search for their infants and toddlers/early intervention services. You may also be able to find early childhood assessment screening clinics at your local hospital pediatrics department. If you can get a private psychological evaluation that will often be the fastest and most personal route for getting the answers you seek. If there is an area where your daughter needs support its best to find out as soon as possible. Research is very clear that early intervention is best both in terms of how much benefit a child gets from the therapies as well as being cost effective. Much easier to treat a little problem than to wait for it to snowball into a big problem! I would avoid people who are telling you to 'wait and see'--you lose nothing by getting an evaluation from your county's office of special education! So many children who need help do not get it because well meaning friends or relatives (or even pediatricians) say things like "Oh she's fine" "She'll grow out of it" or "You're just a first time parent--calm down." Trust yourself and your instincts. When it doubt have it checked out! I also wrote an article on this if you want to read more: http://www.mindwell.us/speaking-the-mind/tag/developmental-delay?currentPage=2

2015-02-03 05:35:04

Sun