So DS had his EI eval this morning. Two therapists came. One had a box of toys, books, and puzzles and spent a lot of time playing and interacting with DS. The other spent time asking me questions about DS's development. In the end they scored their findings and it turns out that DS does qualify for services. He showed a significant delay in communication, speech, and language. He scored very well in motor skills, social skills, cognitive, and adaptive skills though. The therapist said DS is a busy guy and maybe he just needs a little extra attention to help him to absorb what we are trying to teach him.
I'm relieved that we have some answers and we are going to be doing everything we can to get him up to speed. I'm still nervous though that there might be a deeper issue causing his delays. I know there probably isn't, but I'm going to worry anyway cause that's what I do.
Im really glad I went ahead with the eval. It's a long process to get started. We waited 3 weeks for the eval, we have a planning and coordination meeting three weeks from now, and then it could be up to a month after that to start services. We have to have his hearing evaluated too in the mean time. I'm really anxious to get the therapies started!
Re: EI eval this morning
What was it that made you want an EI?
Levi has his check up next week and I'm pretty sure Levi is behind in speech.
What a relief to have some answers and assistance.
You're doing a great job getting DS help early. Way to be his advocate.
Burned by the Bear
DS isn't really talking at all. He only says Dada consistently. He used to say Mama consistently and said dog and uh oh a handful of times, but he stopped saying those awhile ago. He is really good at understanding what we say and will follow simple directions, but his speech is obviously not even close to where most kids his age are. At his last checkup the pedi said we may as well go ahead and schedule an evaluation since its free so we did. I had a gut feeling he was delayed.
ETA: meant to quote Super.
I don't blame you for wanting to check in earlier. I'm terrible with waiting! I really just wanted to know either way. I figured if the eval went well and DS was within normal limits then it was just a few hours of our time, and no harm done. If we ended up seeing a delay I wanted to get to work ASAP.
I'm so happy to hear that the evaluation went well!! I'm also really glad that they were able to tell you today whether or not he qualifies for services since that eliminates a little of the waiting time. The hardest thing (IMO) is waiting for that first evaluation so take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back for getting over the initial hurdle
I think it's a really great sign that he shows strong social skills. Our Pedi told us that she's only really concerned when there's a lack of verbal communication in conjunction with a child who has no desire to socialize. Typically that combination has a higher likelihood of an issue beyond simply needing to "turn on" the child's drive to communicate. I'm totally not trying to gloss over your concerns, but in my unsolicited and untrained opinion I think that's a very positive sign
I hope your services make great progress.
Oh that's good to know. Thanks!