If you suspect that your child is not meeting developmental milestones, it may be a good idea to get your child tested. This program is called Early Intervention. This system is designed to help parents and their children with any developmental needs get the help they deserve. When my child was 6 months old we realized that he wasn’t sitting up by himself and he wasn’t doing the things that other 6-month-old babies should be doing. He was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate and we knew he would have some speech delays but we did not know he would have any other delays.

Getting Your Child Tested

Our neighbor worked for the Early Intervention Department in our county and she recommended that we have Aidan tested. The testing is done in your home; you simply call the Department of Health in your city or town and ask them to give you the number for Early Intervention for your county. You will have a worker come and do an intake. This is a series of questions about your child, how they were born, were they premature etc. They will ask questions about their development so far, in order to get the most for your child answer each question honestly. No matter what the question is, you will get the most out of the program if you answer the questions the best to your ability.

Depending on where you live, you will have a team of three people, a Special Educator, Physical Therapist and an Occupational Therapist. They will do a series of asking you a lot of questions and watching your child and seeing how he acts in your home. There are three developmental tests given, The PreSchool Evaluation Scale Home Version( PES HV), the Battelle Developmental Inventory Test and the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale Test.

The PreSchool Evaluation Scale Home Version is designed to help determine and measure development based on what the parents observe. The Battelle Developmental Inventory Test is a standardized test that is used to help assess your child’s ability in the area of language. It doesn’t matter if your child should be talking or not. Kids as early as a month old get tested with this method. Then there is the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale 2 is a reliable and valid form of testing that is used to assess any development in children from basically birth to 7 years old.

Based upon the results of these tests, your evaluators will make a determination which services your child qualifies for. There are Special Education, Speech, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy. These services are provided for free and they take place in your home and if your child is in day care then some providers will travel to the day care and give the child services there. The arrangements will be made between you and the evaluators. Once you have been approved for services you can get started with helping your child achieve your goals.

Meeting The Service Coordinator

You will be assigned a Service Coordinator; this person is your liaison between your workers and you. If you need anything the Service Coordinator is the person to turn to. They are assigned to you in the beginning; they may be the same person who did your intake. If you ever have any questions or if you need anything the Service Coordinator is the person to talk to.

The Service Coordinator is the person who will schedule Team Meetings, which we will cover later. If you are not happy with the progress your child has made with a certain teacher, you can request another. They are the people who will explain to you how the program works and if there is anything that you need to do.

Early Intervention Occupational Therapy

If your child qualifies for Occupational Therapy, they will need a referral from your child’s pediatrician in order for them to perform any services for your child. It is best to alert your pediatrician about this because it can take some time for the OT to receive the Ok. We waited about 3 months before we were able to obtain our Occupational Therapist.

An Occupational Therapist is a therapist that will help your child achieve everyday goals such as eating with utensils, transitioning from baby foods to solids if your child is having trouble. The OT will help your child with getting dressed, brushing their teeth and if your child has sensory issues then they can help with different textures.

Most counties will offer Occupational Therapy for one hour a week. The therapist will come to your home and work with your child. It is best to have parents participate in these sessions and find out what you can do when the OT is not in your home. They can provide the tools but they are only there once a week so you have to make the commitment to work with your child if you want to see some improvement.

Early Intervention Physical Therapy

Your child may qualify for Physical Therapist. This teacher is going to be the one teacher that your child will not like the most. They will give their teachers hard times and at first until trust can be established. Physical Therapists work your child harder than other teachers do but they have to in order to help your child with their physical conditions.

When it comes to Physical Therapy it is important that you let them know if your child cries for an extended period of time, they should ease up and let your child re-group. My son had terrible temper tantrums and it would take him a little while to calm down once he got worked up, so we would ask our therapist to not let him cry for more than 5 minutes or they would waste more time trying to get him to calm down. You know your child better than anyone so make sure that you set your limits.

If for any reason you are uncomfortable with the way the therapist is working with your child, speak up. Don’t be intimidated when the Service Coordinator tells you that PT’s are hard to come by. If you feel that your assigned PT is not getting the job done then it is OK to request another. You may have to wait until one becomes available but the idea is to what is best for your child.

Early Intervention Speech

Every parent who has a child with a cleft lip and palate will have a speech delay. Depending on the severity of the lip and palate will determine how clear they will sound. Sometime the oral muscles from the deformity will be delayed in developing and this will cause a speech delay as well. Also, depending on what age your child is being evaluated will determine when they can have speech. My son has had speech since he was over a year when his only word was Mama at a year old.

We had a speech therapist that came a few times and she lost focus so we needed to have another therapist. After about 3 sessions she quit because she was taking another job and the one after that could only work on Saturdays. But the Speech Therapist that we have now has made some great progress with my son and he loves working with her.

She comes and brings bubbles and encourages him to blow them which helps with his oral muscles.  She also encourages him to try to imitate sounds and she also has worked with him with his own form of communications without speaking. He has said several more words in the meantime and he is making great progress. One of the best teachers I have seen from this program.

Early Intervention Special Education

One of the very first teachers my son had was Special Education. This teacher was assigned to help him with his sensory issues and tactile problems. My son hated to touch anything rough or course. The teacher came in and started him on touching and holding different items. She would set goals for him such as Tolerating hand over hand support along with oral motor and tactile stimulation.

Other goals would include playing peek a boo, hide and seek with a blanket. Special Ed teachers are there to help your child explore their surroundings and want to be able to explore toys and surfaces that they normally wouldn’t. They also try to increase your child social awareness. Some programs will allow you twice a week for an hour.

This session is important for you to sit in on. A lot of these things that the special Ed teacher is using to help your child you can do when they are not there. These teachers are there to help you on a course in which you can help your child when they need help and cannot help themselves.

About Early Intervention Team Meetings

In the Service Coordinator Section, we mentioned Team Meetings. These are meetings arranged by the Service Coordinator with all of your teachers. This happens once every three months or so. At these meetings, you will discuss the progress or lack of progress your child is making. Suggestions from teachers as well as parents are made at these meetings.

These meetings are called IFSP meetings. Your Service Coordinator will be at these meetings and if you have any concerns now is the time to voice them. The team is there is to help your child and if you feel they aren’t doing enough then ask questions.

The Early Intervention Program is designed to help your child overcome the obstacles they face in developmental areas. These teachers usually have years of experience and you should ask your service coordinators for credentials of these teachers. The most important thing to remember is your child is the important one, your child cannot speak for themselves you have to speak up for them. By teachers and parents working together your child can overcome their adversities.

If you are noticing your child is not meeting developmental milestones contact your local Department of Health and get an evaluation started. These services are all free and when your child is 3 years old then Early Intervention works with your local School District and you can make more choices for your child.