Often times parents come with us with the gut feeling that something is not quite right about their child's development. Too often, these parents say that they have discussed their concerns with others and are told things like:
- "Oh, all boys are like that. He will catch up."
- "She will eat when she gets hungry enough."
- "Send him to our house and we will take care of it."
- "Give it more time. My son was a late talker and he is doing fine."
Recently, we had a family come in to Bright Beginnings for an initial speech-language evaluation for their 4 year old daughter; we will call her Aubrey. In this case, the family's concerns had been dismissed by other healthcare professionals and family members. Aubrey attends a Mother's Day out program 5 days a week and had been getting in trouble for biting the other children and throwing tantrums. After evaluating Aubrey, her speech intelligibility (or how much of her speech is understandable) was 20%. Due to her inability to communicate effectively with her peers and adults, Aubrey resorted to biting and throwing tantrums as her means of communicating. Children often develop bad behaviors when they are frustrated and are unable to communicate easily. Speech therapy was recommended to improve her speech sound production skills and decrease her frustration. Since starting therapy, Aubrey's skills have improved and her teachers report a decrease in negative behaviors at school.
Parents are the experts on their children and should always trust their instincts. When you have specific developmental concerns, you should discuss them with your child's pediatrician or a specialist in that developmental area.
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