| Subject: your worries |
Author:
Vanessa
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Date Posted: 03:30:19 10/10/07 Wed
Hi Kellie,
I'm a school psychologist in the Costal Mississippi area. Please forgive me for being forward, or giving you way too much information than you really want, but I felt compelled to write you this morning after listening to yesterday's show. I primarily work with preschoolers in our school district as well as with our state agency that works with children and families of children ages birth thorugh three. One of the callers suggested that you contact your local state agency that works with families of children birth through three... I couldn't agree more. Not that I think anything is wrong with your daughter-but to give you a better idea of where she is developmentally. Every state seems to have a different name for their agency; (here in Mississippi it is "First Steps") this is the address for more information on the program in Texas... http://www.dars.state.tx.us/ecis/index.shtml
There might be somewhat of a waiting list, but it's a service that will provide you with a full developmental picture of your child. To give you somewhat of an idea of the process, this is how it works in my area. The parent or caregiver calls the agency to refer their child and is assigned a Service Coordinator. The Service Coordinator will visit with the parent and will conduct an interview, gathering information about the child's developmental history. We then visit with the family as a team. Our team consists of the Service Coordinator, an early childhood specialist, a speech / language pathologist, an occupational therapist or physical therapist and myself. The "assessment" is all play-based, and in my experience is not at all stressful for the child. We play and at the same time screen each little one in all areas of development including motor skills (fine and gross motor), language, cognition, self-help skills, and social / emotional skills. Before we leave, we provide the parent with a verbal summary of what we are seeing and then follow up with a written report for you to keep. If a child needs a little extra "boost" in any area, the agency will provide a therapist in that area of development to work with the family and child within the home environment.
As far as your concerns about Autism...well, it would be unprofessional for any specialist to suggest you be worried at this stage. Your daughter is way too young to be making any type of assumptions or over-analyzing any type of "behaviors" she may be exhibiting. I'm very hesitant to diagnose a child before the age of three...because so many different developmental factors could be involved...and Autism is not a diagnosis I take lightly. I understand your worry though. As a practioner, I deal with Autism EVERY day and it weighs heavily on my heart. Every year I see an increase in the number of children diagnosed with Autism that I can't explain away with "overdiagnosis". I'm currently nine months pregnant with my first child-a boy (which autism is much more likely in males) and am already worried. Please know that you are not alone in your fears and try to focus on the joy that your daughter brings to your life.
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