Just made an appt with Dr. Conlon

[Anonymous]

Just double checking myself and welcome any feedback. My son is almost 3. Our preschool recommended, when he was 2 1/2 that he be evaluated for speech articulation, which we did through Montgomery County. He has been in speech therapy since the winter and we and the school have noticed that he is making great progress. He will continue with speech services as we recently had his transition meeting and he still qualifies for the program with only a delay in speech articulation.

However recently his preschool stated that he is having trouble with holding his crayon properly and is behind on this than the other 2 year olds in his class (he still holds the crayon with his fist instead of pointing his fingers down). We took him to his pediatrician who then recommended an developmental evaluation. We chose Dr. Conlon and amazingly have an appointment first week in June. Just wondering if I'm doing the right thing? And for those that have seen Dr. Conlon what do you think he will recommend for our son who really only has some speech articulation and minor fine motor skill problems? He definitely has adjusted very well to his preschool since he turned 2; sits well at circle time and art projects; loves to dance and play with the other kids; very affectionate and is already potty trained. I just want to make sure he doesn't need any further help at this point which it seems like he may with his fine motor skills.

[Anonymous]

I will be interested to hear what others say. My son is older than OP's son, but had the same issues at the same point in his life.

As an aside, I find it utterly amazing that people in this region go see a developmental pediatrician when a 2 year old cannot hold a crayon with a mature grip.

[Anonymous]

We have seen Conlon and I think you will learn alot about your son at your visit. He is very thorough and articulate (you may have to wait on a report though). It sounds like your son is doing well. All kids develop and mature differently. I would point it out to the infants and toddlers therapist as she may offer you suggestions or an OT consult. It might just be that his teachers need to show or teach him how to hold the crayon. It's amazing that he is potty trained and he sounds like a lovely child.

[Anonymous]

We also see Dr. Conlon and like him very much. It's difficult to tell from your brief post why your pediatrician suggested an evaluation by a developmental pediatrician and I'm wondering if perhaps there isn't more going on. It would be unusual to get county services for articulation issues in a 2.5 year old. The articulation expectations of a child that young are actually fairly low. A child would typically not get services at that age for articulation alone. Also, it's not developmentally appropriate to expect a 3 year old to hold a crayon properly. It's not until a child is 4 that he's expected to hold a crayon in a simple tripod grasp which is basically using the fingertips rather than fisting it.

[Anonymous]

OP-I'd love to know what preschool this is. I think I can guess.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for all the replies which definitely put me at ease. I think our pediatrician felt that since we brought our son in for an appointment that he had to give us something or some kind of advice while we were there - which is why he recommended getting an eval from a developmental pediatrician. There really are no other issues to report. I thought he was kind of young too for services for his speech but since our preschool recommended it -- we did and he in fact did qualify for services and had more than a 25% delay in the articulation area. Montgomery County did an extensive evaluation and he definitely showed a delay with some of the sounds and letters he should be saying at this age. Nevertheless, he enjoys the speech therapist and looks forward to her weekly visits so we will definitely keep that going.

I suspect that after seeing Dr. Conlon -- he may or may not refer us to get some OT for our son but at least I feel that I've followed all advice given to me. I defintiely didn't think it was a big deal either about the way he grips his crayon but actually when the school mentioned it to me...I happened to be there as I was helping out with their spring party. The children were doing a craft and I observed every child in the class holding the crayon properly except our son...so I guess that's why I got worried.

Our son's school is definitely not one mentioned on the boards here that I've noticed but he goes to Georgetown Hill.