Another date with early intervention?
Friday, December 10, 2010
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Sara Rontal FisherRecent posts
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Remember awhile back I took my son to be evaluated because he wasn't rolling over? Well, he finally did at seven months and Early Intervention of Illinois found no delay with him.
Fast forward to now, five months later, and he still wasn't meeting the developmental milestone of crawling. He'll roll all over the place, but when it comes to forward motion, he's not quite there yet.
So, being the neurotic mother I am who just wants her baby to meet every annoying, pre-determined milestone on time went right to Children's Memorial for a physical therapy evaluation. Doctor prescribed it.
After the hour-long meeting, the PT therapist said that while she didn't see any "delay" in development, she did think he had weak back muscles. Regular PT appointments were scheduled.
A month later, now, he's making some forward progress. A little toe push and a little scooch on his tummy and he'll get somewhere. Slowly. But it's not crawling yet.
My pediatrician friend in New York City says it's time to get more therapy, to call Early Intervention again. My PT says he's fine, just needs practice and exercise.
I'm torn between being overly neurotic and wanting to do what's best.
So I placed that call to EI today and now will wait for yet another evaluation. In the meantime, I hope he just decides to crawl. Late.
Sara Fisher is a mother of two living in Roscoe Village. She also blogs at selfmademom.net.
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Get Better Help Now!
By Randi St. Denis on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
As an educational consultant and mother of seven children with thirty years experience, I can verify that you are getting some very bad advice. Don't listen to the experts when your gut is telling you to get help. Often, the experts are motivated by what insurance is currently paying for or some other political issue that has nothing to do with your child. Weak back muscles are a concern. Early Intervention is just that...EARLY. Early is always better. When a child doesn't roll over until seven months and does not begin crawling until twelve months, you should seek some competent help that is aware and proactive. Smart mothers also try to stimulate children themselves, not just wait for experts to do the work. All therapists will tell you that parents who do homework with their children get much better improvement than just waiting for the 30-60 minute a week therapy appointment. For instance, if a child is not rolling over, we can place them underneath a chair with rungs and then wrap their hands around the rungs. If we coax them a little, many children can learn to roll over. Learn how to do some baby exercises; one good one is to place baby on his knees while supporting him in a crawling position and gently rock him a little. This is a good starting position for crawling. Use your common sense and imagination.