The issue of early or late diagnosis of developmental delays, autism and many other delays is becoming more and more of an issue. A lot of children are receiving special education services in the school that did not receive early intervention or early preschool services to help treat developmental delays in the early stages.
I personally believe in early diagnosis due to the significant difficulties a child can have trying to break patterns that have been formed over the years. As a Speech-Pathologist I don't give an age limit for therapy. A child is never to young to receive therapy especially if certain developmental milestones appear to be missing or significantly impacting the child's communication skills. I spoke with an educator that has been in the field for over 30 years. She shed some more light on the importance of early diagnosis and special education. She went on to say that there is even later diagnosis with children from a low SES or from different cultural backgrounds. She presently teaches high schoolers and said that even at that age she sees children that have slipped through the cracks all through school and are still struggling to make it. She said that some of the children should have a diagnosis even now (ex. Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia), but sadly a lot of them still don't.
So what's your view? Do you believe in early diagnosis of delays? If you noticed some things with your child that weren't quite right would you simply, wait it out and let him/her outgrow it or immediately take them to the doctor?
According to blogs.edweek.org there is a significant benefit to early diagnosis of developmental delays to the government because less money is spent on special education. The blog also noted that Easter Seals was a good source available to provide assistance to parents of children with developmental delays. The blog then went on to say that according to the CDC children could be diagnosed with autism as early as 2 years old but research showed many children weren't gettting diagnosed until they were older than 6 years old.
On the other side, friendshipcircle.org blog gives reasons for why early diagnosis of developmental delays is essential as well as why some parents wait until their child is older.
Reasons for waiting
-the children appear to be exhibiting normal behavior
-the insurance won't cover the extra medical costs
-the child's behavior makes accurate diagnosis impossible
-they don't want their child labeled
All of these reasons make perfectly good sense, but what about the other side of the story
Reasons for early diagnosis
-parents may not be completely sure of what the child's needs are
-parents may be unaware of other problems
-the children may be eligible for intensive intervention
-special needs affect relationships and friendships
No matter which way you look at it there are pros and cons to each side. However, as parents we must take the first step and make sure our children are receiving the utmost care possible. I always say to mothers, if you feel deep down that something is wrong and your maternal instict is telling you it as well, then something may be wrong and it wouldn't hurt to have your child evaluated just to be sure. I have seen children that have been diagnosed with autism as early as 2 years old. The parents have immediately started with intensive ABA (behavioral therapy), OT (occupational therapy), ST(speech therapy) and Babies Can't Wait (Early intervention services for birth to 3 population). By the time the child reached school age he/she was able to be placed in a classroom full of typical children and not in a special education classroom. Unfortunately, this is not the case for all children but it goes to show that in some cases early intervention does work and it defnitely can do more good than harm.
References
blogs.edweek.org
friendshipcircle.org
