Resources for Children with Developmental Delays

We all want to believe our child falls within the average curve when it comes to developmental milestones. We are often told not to compare our child to others because each child will achieve these markers at his/her own rate and interest. True, a child might be more interested in fine motor skills than focusing on some gross motor skills or visa versa. There may be no cause for alarm, but, when in doubt, trust your parenting intuition.

I'm a mother to four joyful children, and, interesting enough, each one has his or her own developmental delay. At times it has been a roller coaster ride of emotions and events. First, I wanted to know what the condition may be and why this had happened. Developmental delays can be difficult to diagnose and I may never know all the answers. All I can do is try to catch these delays early and make the best educated guess about what their needs are. It's important the child receives the help he or she needs now before it becomes a habit. Just as my daughter knows the word is dog and can say dog, but in a rush she falls back to saying, "gog".

Finding the resources isn't always easy. First you may start with your pediatrician. He/she might not feel your child falls into the bracket of a learning delay. You may hear, "Oh, he's a boy. This is typical for his age. We will watch it and see where he is a little older." This may prove true in some cases, but not for any of my children. I heard this way too many times from a number of doctors. What I had to keep in mind is the doctor had only spent fifteen minutes of his/her time with my child. He/she couldn't possibly know my child after fifteen minutes here and fifteen minutes there. I'm not placing any blame here, but I learned that I was going to have to be the one that went on to explore the possibilities of what was going on with my child.

I have missed many opportunities along the way because it's a lot to take in at once. One important fact is that many early intervention programs end at age three and there are not many open for children at a preschool age. The special education preschool can be very stringent as to who qualifies after a series of evaluations.

Every state has an early intervention program. Check with your local heath department and ask them how to set up an evaluation. My youngest child has been receiving services before age one and they will work with younger children as well, provided the child scores within range for services. I found early intervention to be very resourceful. I have another child who is preschool age who was showing signs of delay. We began evaluating him knowing he was going to turn three in a few months. I had a very friendly and helpful coordinator who spoke with me about special education preschool and Head Start. We decided to go ahead and check into the special education preschool and this is where he is currently. The coordinator walked with me every step of the way and joined me for all the meetings we had concerning our preschooler. This was such a blessing to our family.

When my oldest daughter was of preschool age we had her evaluated through the Department of Education for the special education preschool. She ultimately did not qualify because she scored within borderline levels. Her language was our only concern, and they felt she was at an age appropriate level for her language skills. They said if she would have scored lower in any of the other tested fields she would have been placed in the program. One of the evaluators passed me a flyer about the California-Hawaii Elks Major Project. This program is designed specifically for children who don't qualify for programs offered by the Department of Education. The Elks will then do their own evaluation. Some programs, such as this one, may be hard to get into due to a waiting list. This one had a closed waiting list, which meant I had to keep calling and checking for an opening. I called every week for two months. The speech pathologist then gave me a tip that she clears the list on a certain day. It often helps to be the squeaky wheel.

It is my hope that in sharing my experience with others I may help other families with children who have learning delays. I have found that I'm not the only one who didn't know where to seek help. The best advice I can give is to talk with other parents who may have a child with a learning delay. They can be a great resource for you. Further, there are many message boards online where you can find a community to discuss such matters.

Next to love, there is no better gift than following your heart. By being a powerful advocate, your hard work will open up your child's future.