Parents encouraged to have children screened for developmental problems

RBC | Imagine you’re an air traffic controller watching a flight on radar. Early into the flight you notice the plane is veering slightly off course. The longer you wait to tell the pilot to make an adjustment, the harder it will be to get that plane back on track, so you tell the pilot right away.
Now apply that same thinking to your infant or young child. Maybe the child isn’t reaching those babyhood milestones at the same pace as other kids in the same age range. Maybe, as a parent, you just feel concerned, or sense something isn’t quite right. Using the same analogy as the airplane, it makes sense that early intervention would be best for the child. But how do you find help?
That was the subject of a recent meeting of healthcare providers, educators, county health department staff, and others who work with young children.
The benefits of early intervention are well-documented.
“The most typical local early intervention services are in the area of motor (skills) and speech,” said RBC Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES, pronounced bo-sees) Director Teresa Bandel-Schott via email. “We have several young children that have delays in these two areas. When we are able to provide services in the early years, a high percentage of these children no longer qualify for services once they reach the age of three.”
From birth to three years of age is a time of critical brain development for young children.
“When it comes to learning language and social skills, you have to have real interaction with a 3D person,” said William Campbell, M.D., during the meeting. Sometimes that means parents need coaching to provide natural learning opportunities at home.
Bandel-Schott said early developmental screenings are important for all children.
“We’ve gotten better at finding potential problems earlier,” Screenings, either through programs like RBC Horizons (for children birth to age 3), BOCES (for children 3-5 years of age), or during a doctor’s office visit, are opportunities for families to answer questions about a child’s growth, learning and behavior.
“It is also important for a parent that has a concern to be able to share that concern with their child’s doctor or another professional.”
Sometimes parents don’t speak up because they feel embarrassed, or like they are “failing” their child, but that’s not the case.
“Parents are their child’s first teacher and early intervention is not therapy, but an opportunity for families to learn new knowledge and build their capacity for how they can support their child’s development. This provides for increased opportunity for the children’s success as they grow,” she said.
Concerns about money are another reason parents avoid early intervention, but many services are available at no cost to families.
Of the families who receive early intervention treatment, 90 percent of those surveyed say it was beneficial.
“Parents often know when something about their children’s development doesn’t seem quite right.”
For further information about the value of early intervention, please visit draccess.org/videolibrary/HarperHope and www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/milestonemomentseng508.pdf.