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Special Needs
samakasrc
member
Introduction.
samakasrc
member
Hi ladies, I don't know if I fit into this board or not, let me explain. I usually linger on the tri boards, the 12+ month boards and the jan 2012 board. I have a daughter who just turned 1 year and his hitting and exceeding her growth milestones. However, This week I started babysitting my neice who is 19 months old. She doesn't crawl (although she does scoot) doesn't walk, cries all day and doesn't talk. She was born at 27 weeks and has struggled ever since. Her mom has her into the drs monthly, has had her in therapy for over a year (because they told her she should be caught up by 1 year and she was falling further and further behind). They haven't diagnosed her with anything (as far as I know and as far as her mom will say). Her mom insists there is nothing wrong with her, even as she sees my daugher who is 7 months younger excelling and hitting various milestones. The reason I am turning here is because I haven't had to handle a child who is considered "special needs" and am already getting frustrated because I'm not really sure how to handle it sometimes. I know The Bump ladies can be a ton of help and I'm hoping to be able to turn to you guys for some help and maybe provide some support for you in return. I look forward to getting to know you all!
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Re: Introduction.
Let's see what I can come up with.
1.) What kind of therapy is she getting? Is it through EI (Early Intervention)? Either way, maybe you could meet with the therapists sometime so you could see what they are working on. I'm a teacher and since I've been off and been able to be there for my DS' therapy, I feel he's making MUCH MORE progress because I can work on the ideas all week.
2.) I would ask her mom if they know why she's crying all day and try to address that first. She's obviously unhappy or in pain and she will have trouble making progress if she's hurting.
3.) I would just try and find out as much info as you can. If you are babysitting her a lot, it would be in everyone's best interest.
I hope this helps!
It is very nice that you are concerned. But, I will say that mom just may be in denial and not ready to confront the fact that her daughter is developmentally delayed. Or, she may very well know but just isn't ready to talk about it.
My son has had to work for everything since his 99 day stay in the ICU at birth due to a heart defect. We very well know he is very delayed, but we are just so proud of every accomplishment. We really don't care about when he was "supposed" to do all of these things. We have had him in physical and speech (feeding) therapy since we got home. I don't like to dwell on what he can't do or is behind in. The only reason I bring this up is because her mom might feel the same. 27 weeks is quite early and it can cause lots of complications that they don't know about until they get older. I would think her pediatrician would know that she is behind and would address this at her appointments.
I guess I would say that you are walking a fine line here. It is great that you are concerned, but I guess it is not totally your place to get really involved. I would keep the communication open, especially about how she cries all day and could possibly benefit from physical therapy. I hope this helps...