Question:
I have a 21 month old who is not speaking. He still avidly breastfeeds. He
does not say any words. He does make sounds, i know he hears b/c he
appreciates barney music, and seseme street videos. He is also very active
(hyper). When is awake he constantly getting into things, knows how to climb
and reach for anything. He does not sit still for long (probably normal at this
age). Anyhow, he sits in his stroller when we go out and i am walking, but the
minute I set foot in any store, he out of the stroller (he can squirm his way
out of the belt) and starts running around grabbing stuff.
This is my 3rd child. All of my kids were very active (almost hyperactive) and
did not speak in sentences till they were over 3. NOw, my daughter and son
talk nonstop and have excellent vocabularies. My third one seems to be
following in their footsteps but he does not say anything. They used say a few
words at this age (very few). My dH says i forgot but they were pretty much
the same. The kids all wore me out during this terrible two stage.
I took him to Early intervention evaluation, basically for speech therapy only.
They suggested he needs speech, occupational, as well as special ed b/c he
does not play appropritately for his age. My husband and I never really sit
down and play w/ toys with our children b/c our parents never did that. don't
get me wrong, culturally that's not somehting our parents did (we are
asian-indian). HOwever, i quality while breastfeeding. Anyhow, my dH totally
disagrees with the evaluation b/c we have 2 other children whom we were worried
about, but could get early intervention. They are both very intelligent. My
daughter is in kindergarten and doing great. My son will start pre-k. He is
ready to read (competes with his sister).
After the evaluation, i am very confused, I am kind of worried what to do. i
am trying to wonder if the evaluation was a little harsh. i got more than I
bargained for. I just went in for speech therapy. The eval was done in
nursery school. Thank god my son has no disability. His physical milestone
were above average. excellent gross motor skills.
for ex: my son was given a baby bottle and a doll, he was expected to put the
bottle in the doll mouth but he did not. instead he tried to open the bottle
and throw the milk out, which is what he does if i try to give him a bottle. I
think he understands what i say to him, but chooses to ignore my reprimands. if
I say no, he tries to avoid eye contact and just starting laughing. if he
touch any decorations or plants in my sisters house, and she reprimands him he
looks away like he does not want to listen. i am pretty sure he knows what is
being said.
Anyhow, i am just wondering does anybody have any experience with early
intervention program? does it help?
Answer:
Early intervention certainly helps, and it can not do any harm that I know
of. If you can get the early help for him, by all means do so. I started my
son in Special Ed when he was almost 4, but I have several friends who have
had their kids in early intervention and it does remarkable things. IMO,
getting him extra help can only help him, it certainly can't do him any
harm.
