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
Melissa, I am in agreement with early diagnosis if it can be completed accurately. My first child was stuttering when he was young and we were able to take him to Easter Seals and have a diagnostic assessment completed. Basically, my husband and I were informed that it was developmental and he should out grow the stuttering, his brain was processing faster than he could speak his thoughts. He did grow out of it and because the stuttering never resulted in not understanding the message services weren't warranted. Sharon Lloyd
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with early diagnosis; otherwise, I feel parents are sacrificing the child's gains across domains, as they are not reaping the benefits of support services. I have a child in my class this year that has delays and has extremely poor focus; the parents are dismissing the fact that he has issues, as they see him as normal. He is the only child, so they have no others to compare him to. We keep a daily journal going back and forth and, as a school, have implemented various strategies to try to help him be successful. However, we have exhausted our ideas, and he is still not progressing and is consistently behind in his work. I was told that he was diagnosed with slight autism when he was very young but that the parent did not want to accept it. I fear that with him now being in 2nd grade that he is so far behind that he may never be fully able to catch up to his peers. If his parents had accepted his diagnosis and gotten him the services and help that he needs, maybe he would on grade level and succeeding in the classroom. I understand parents not wanting their kids "labeled", but when it comes to their emotional, social, physical, and cognitive well-being, sometimes it is necessary to put a name to a problem.
ReplyDeleteDixie,
DeleteI applaud your facility on keeping journals on the child's progress. Darla mentioned the importance of journals in a previous post.
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI am currently taking another class on this very subject and this was our discussion for the week. I spoke with a school psychologist who stated that early diagnosis is good, but sometimes difficult to detect. Sometimes there is a disability that is visable and other times it may not be so visable. That is when the teacher plays an important role in documentation and journeling. This gives evidence for the need for a referral. I was asked if it was better to give early diagnosis or take a wait and see attitude. My answer is both. In some situations there could be a delay that is developmental and the child is just a little slower in developing that skill. Because not every child develops at the same rate, sometimes it is better to take a wait and see position. However, in the majority of cases I definitely feel it is better to err on the side of caution and get evaluated early. If you do not make that attempt, time will paas and as you stated, they will slip through the cracks and find themselves in upper grades and not be able to read or do Math.
Darla
I absolutely agree Darla! In those cases you have older children working on early developing sounds tat could have been addressed when they were younger.
DeleteMelissa,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great topic for discussion. I think that the early intervention is essential for many types of situations. However, as a mom, I tend to put on a different "hat" when dealing with my own children. My son was a very late bloomer with developing spoken language. He understood most of what I was telling him, and was able to communicate with me through nonverbal cues. However, he did not speak as much as the other children in his day care class. During a screening, I was told that he should receive early intervention. I was not opposed to getting him additional help, but I also figured that with speech, sometimes kids talk when they are ready to talk. This, fortunately, was the case with my son. I never did get him intervention services because I was not impressed with the pathologist who wanted to work with him. Long story short, around his third birthday my kiddo was talking with everyone, and in complete sentences. Success story for me, but I have seen the value in getting involved early. Thanks for bringing up these issues!
Jennifer Laxton
I completely understand your views. Thanks for sharing! I usually ask a parent how well their child is understanding instructions in addition to whether or not they are talking. If the parent reports that the child appears to understand everything, is performing activities after models and is participating in other language tasks then I recommend keeping an eye on the child and his/her progress. Therapy is not always automatically recommended but it serves as a good jump start for kids who are not yet talking and sometimes helps to eliminate future articulation delays as well. I'm glad you have a success story!
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