Neurologist
tiffany0727
member
I am a mother to a sweet almost 16 month old. He is not walking and does not have any expressive words yet. He is cruising and pulling up. He just started crawling on his hands and knees, he was army crawling. When you try to help him walk, he is like a wet noodle. He started pushing toys while walking this week. I will be honest with you guys. I'm taught children with ID-S for 3 1/2 years, and I'll admit it's so so scary to be behind the other side of the table. My husband is also a PA who works part time at our pediatric office. We are just feel something is not right....
I had bleeding when I was 14 weeks pregnant with our son and they said his placenta was small, but he was 8 ibs at birth. I don't know if something happened....
I just don't know what is causing his delays. His social skills are great. He really loves playing with other kids and shows so much affection. Will make great eye contact. So, I don't think he is showing signs of autism, but on the other hand he has no expressive vocab. Receptive yes. He understands me and will point to things (like in books). Still, it would be nice to hear him call me by name. Sometimes he also seems like he forgets things, I guess. Like he has said cat, go, car, but he won't say them anymore. His lack of walking is a huge concern. We have been seen by the CDSA and we are able to get a service coordinator. He has low muscle tone and loose joints. I just wanted to know if this sounded like your child, by chance.
Well, I guess what I'm getting at is that we are going to the neurologist. I don't really know what to expect. Anyone been here and can offer insight. My husband doesn't feel they will do much, but I wanted to prepare myself... Thanks!!
Mother of An Angel - 11/12/09
Re: Neurologist
How much bleeding did you have? I bled alot around 20 weeks with Peyton thus causing her to have a stroke in utero and mild cerebral palsy. She had obvious right sided weakness from birth though.
The neurologist is the next step so you are headed int he right direction, I would assume, if his tone is fairly low they may order an MRI for which he will have to be sedated for.
Also, he's only 16 months? It's "normal" to have little to no expressive vocab at that age, from my understanding.
I bled pretty heavy for two days (like a period) and light for four additional days. I thought I miscarried, I had one before, and it happened at Disney of all places, so I didn't have an us until we were home.
He's not even saying ma-ma or da-da to us. He'll find and point to us in pictures though. His tone is rather low. It affects his face a little too, but you can't really tell if you don't know. He just drools all the time.
He's had a head us because it increased in size from 50th to 95th percentile in 3 months, but it showed no fluid,
Mother of An Angel - 11/12/09
Their are different types of CP, P has right sided hemiparesis with little spacicity in both legs. I lost quite a bit of blood, and the cause was that i had a partial placental abruption. Did they ever tell you why they thought you were bleeding? Did you have a low lying placenta or anything?
The drooling is probably due to low tone in his mouth, if you can teach him to drink from a straw that will help increase his oral motor tone. When is your neuro appt?
I know P's receptive language was MUCH better than her receptive but she was basically non-verbal for quite a while. Is he babbling things? Does he play with toys equally in his left & right side? Hold his own bottle?
I did have a low placenta. I honestly, don't remember much about what was said. I was so happy that he was still inside me.
They have said that is why he drools like he does. I've had a hard time getting him to raise his cup. He'll hold it, but won't turn it up. He does babble when he plays. Sometimes it does seems he prefers his right hand more, but he will use both.
His appointment is May 1st.
You have some cuties btw!
Mother of An Angel - 11/12/09
It really wasn't made a big deal of about my bleeding either, but I was scared to death. I did get admitted the next morning (after being sent home that night) for one day I think.
I would start with the take & toss cups that come with straws, he won't have to tilt it up and the sucking will help his tone.
May 1st is soon so that's good news!
Thank you for your comment, I am grateful the girls "look normal" but it also kind of hinders because people think their is no way they can have so much wrong with them.
Peytons hand preference is still obvious now, but when she was little it was that she wouldn't even move the entire right side of her body, so it was pretty severe. From tracking with her right eye, to her arm, leg, ankle, etc. She started PT at 2 months though.
Hey! Although my guy is a little younger than yours (DS is 13.5 months old), we do happen to be in a very similar situation. He has a gross motor delay (recieves PT 2x weekly) and language delay, more expressive than receptive (recieves ST 2x weekly). Although they account for his gross motor delay because of his low muscle tone, he also has benign extra axial fluid collection of infancy (his head circumfrence skyrocketed at 4 months). We are seen by a neurosurgeon for his fluid collection and a neurologist for his low muscle tone. Basically they are both just following him and seeing how he is every 2 months. We also are currently seeing a geneticist because of some other anomolies that he presents with.
At our first neurologist appointment he just went over medical history and asked developmental/medical questions. He then reffered us for a hearing exam, EEG (we went there origainally because of possible seizure activity, it was later unfounded), as well as a geneticist.
I hope this helps! We look like were in the same boat (kind of?), so message me if you have any other questions!
Thanks ladies! Means a lot for your advice and input. Yes, CDSA is an early intervention service. He now has an IFSP, which is just like an IEP. We are doing a home based program, right now, but if he is not making progress in the next few weeks, we start PT and Speech. I have tried a straw with him in the past, and I tried this morning. He does not have the concept yet. I'll keep trying though. I stay at home with him and he never had a bottle, so it was hard to even adjust to a cup. He still isn't the best drinker.
I'm glad your son is starting to take some steps. That's awesome! Good for him.
Our little guy isn't close yet. He is good a cruising now, but his movements are very unsteady and wobbly. We tried a walker, but he screams in one.
Thanks for your input reabt about your visit. That's helpful. I'm hoping they won't do another head us, since his last one was ok. They were worried about fluid too. He doesn't look like the typical hydrocephalus case. He has had a hearing test when he was much smaller. Hmm...I haven't noticed any kind of seizure activity (and I've dealt with a lot of children who had seizures) and that's a huge blessing. They are very scary, even when it's not your child. I can't imagine what it feels like when it's your child in a seizure.
Mother of An Angel - 11/12/09
DD2 is 17 months. She isn't walking/talking/cruising/pulling up. She crawls super fast though! She has global delays and low tone though. She's basically 6-8 months delayed, depending on the area. We went to the neurologist because of her head shape (thought she might need a helmet...she has mild plagio due to torticollis) and size at 8 months. He sent her in for a MRI and it came back clear. At this point he basically said he couldn't do anything for us. I didn't go back to him (he was a moron anyway), but I've gotten her involved with early intervention. She sees a PT, OT, and special education teacher each week. She's also going to have a feeding specialist (and/or a speech therapist) come in. They wanted to see her once a week, but my schedule doesn't allow anymore, so maybe twice a month.
Anyway, I've been encouraged to take her to a geneticist, so I'll be making that appointment soon. Also, getting her hearing tested next week. She's already had her eyes tested. She's near sighted and has strabismus...so she'll be getting glasses this year. Now, DD1 didn't have delays and she walked at 17 months. Up to 18 months is normal. Sounds like your son is on the right path, just give him a little more time. Good luck!
Our ST actually gave us a straw cup she made, but it's similar to this: https://www.talkingchild.com/shop_HoneyBearCupwithStraw.aspx
It's a therapeutic cup as the straw is very easy to take liquid out of, and you can squeeze the bear as he chews on the straw so he can see that liquid comes out. That's how ds got the hang of it. He now is able to use a regular straw cup (though none that are too hard to suck out of like most of the typical toddler cups are). Also, they recommend that once they get the concept down, that you try to thicken the liquid a bit to help build strength. We add some of the drinkable whole milk yogurts to ds's pediasure to thicken it a bit. Anyhow, I never thought he would get the straw, but this helped.