Early intervention.. Is it necessary? Does it really work?

[Anonymous]

I also resent how people constantly respond to these EI evals as "it might help, and there's zero cost, so why wouldn't you?" Because in our case, i worked, and my husband traveled and incorporating therapies into our schedule is stressful for everyone involved. Stressful for my son and for me, because we're rushing in our day to squeeze it in. Like a lot of SN families, even ignoring therapies, we already feel like we constantly have appointments on our schedule - there's always a ped, dev ped, ENT, dentist appointment. If i add once/tiwce a week therapies to that, holy shit, my life gets crazy stressful. My son's stress level goes up, and that makes his issues intensify.

So of course i'm going to give my son needed therapies. But i'm only going to sign up to the extent they have the potential to help. Example: After an OT eval recommended it, we did OT for 2 months. Like so many on here found, it was a load of shit and we gave it up quickly when we figured out it wasn't going to do anything. My dev ped suggested behavioral therapy for my 3 year old, and i called around to therapists and had several of them tell me that it would be a waste of time at that age. Point is that some therapies are recommended are just aren't necessary or helpful.

So i always resent that this site suggests that taking up therapy is "zero cost". There are costs for some of us, and it's important that we weigh those costs against potential benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also resent how people constantly respond to these EI evals as "it might help, and there's zero cost, so why wouldn't you?" Because in our case, i worked, and my husband traveled and incorporating therapies into our schedule is stressful for everyone involved. Stressful for my son and for me, because we're rushing in our day to squeeze it in. Like a lot of SN families, even ignoring therapies, we already feel like we constantly have appointments on our schedule - there's always a ped, dev ped, ENT, dentist appointment. If i add once/tiwce a week therapies to that, holy shit, my life gets crazy stressful. My son's stress level goes up, and that makes his issues intensify.

So of course i'm going to give my son needed therapies. But i'm only going to sign up to the extent they have the potential to help. Example: After an OT eval recommended it, we did OT for 2 months. Like so many on here found, it was a load of shit and we gave it up quickly when we figured out it wasn't going to do anything. My dev ped suggested behavioral therapy for my 3 year old, and i called around to therapists and had several of them tell me that it would be a waste of time at that age. Point is that some therapies are recommended are just aren't necessary or helpful.

So i always resent that this site suggests that taking up therapy is "zero cost". There are costs for some of us, and it's important that we weigh those costs against potential benefits.

Agreed. The nice thing about EI though is that since it's a coaching model, they'll go to your kid's daycare or work with the nanny. They'll also reduce the amount of services if you're only available once or twice a month, to keep giving strategies and monitoring progress. The whole point of EI is to support the family-that's why they help with stuff beyond your kid's direct issues. Once you get out of EI it's not like that, which is why I think so many people say to go for it at that stage.

[Anonymous]

Crawling isn't a milestone and a child isn't considered delayed until they aren't walking after 18 months old. A lot children skip crawling. So no worries there, OP, and Good luck with EI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I smell a troll. Nobody in their right mind would consider a 10 month old who isn't crawling delayed and no way in hell that a kid with 1 month delays in any area qualifies unless the kid is 6 weeks old.

My guess is OP misunderstood the report or doesn't realize that her child is as delayed as she is. You're right she would not get these services for a one month delay. There is more going on which is all the more reason she needs to take them.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm a special ed teacher who has provided EI services in Arlington. The county doesn't hand out free services to kids who don't need them. If a pediatrician and a professional's assessment suggest your child needs services, it's almost neglectful to refuse to treat your child. If I were you I'd investigate my inner desire to go against the recommendations of professionals. Especially since it's free.

Argh. One question OP asked is whether EI works. We can't just assume that services work because they are needed. That's just not true and arguably just as neglectful to ignore. Especially when it is something as vague as "activities of daily living" for an infant. OP wants to know more and she's right to. So far I haven't seen a single actually helpful thing posted here.

Do you even have kids who have had delays and gotten servives? If not, please stop playing games. These services can help op's kid. Moreover, they can't possibly hurt. I get you want to have an argument where you're the intellectual winner but you're playing with the well being of other kids when you try to convince their parents EI services are useless.

Yes, I do in fact. I am not saying EI is useless. I am saying that OP is right to pursue more information about the delay noted, the reasons for the services provided, and the underlying condition if any. I mean it's possible there's something going on she should investigate further with her ped or other specialists. The EI assessor is likely not even an MD. I am confused why anyone thinks the end of the story would be a blanket "early intervention works and it's free." That's not how I approach any medical issue in my own life or child's life. Not sure why it's so offensive to ask for the facts about what's going on and what might work.

You're full of it. If your child has special needs there is no way you would not be advocating her to accept these services.

Did you see me advocating not to accept the services? No, you did not.

You advocate her "knowing more" about whether they're "useful." You can try to get someone to debate with you but quit lying about being a SN parent.

and why would it be inappropriate to know more about the treatment and whether it will work??? Maybe it's ineffective. Maybe she needs *more* services than offered. maybe a 2nd opinion or a dev ped would shed more light.

So you, the supposed SN parent, advocate doing nothing while waiting for a dev ped appointment that will take 6-12 months to get to get a second opinion? Again, you're spouting useless and harmful advice. Op can get all the second opinions she wants. She needs to do these services in the meantime. If they don't help, they certainly don't hurt. To do nothing when she qualifies is a terrible idea and you should be ashamed for promoting that to a FTM who may just be entering the very confusing world of dealing with delays and SNs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I smell a troll. Nobody in their right mind would consider a 10 month old who isn't crawling delayed and no way in hell that a kid with 1 month delays in any area qualifies unless the kid is 6 weeks old.

My guess is OP misunderstood the report or doesn't realize that her child is as delayed as she is. You're right she would not get these services for a one month delay. There is more going on which is all the more reason she needs to take them.

Based on the pretty arbitrary process the MoCo SLP posted upthread sbout qualifying, it's not surprising that OP would be confused about what's going on. Perhaps the child needs services, but she also needs an accurate assessment.

[Anonymous]

We were in MOCO when we did EI. The therapists worked hard to fit my child into their schedule when we came into the program mid-year. We saw real progress across the board. It did take time though. DS had a cerebral palsy diagnosis with 3-9 months delays in gross and fine motor, speech, and behavior areas. He was discharged from speech early on, but because he was still involved with EI they had him re-evaluated quickly when he started having trouble in speech almost a year later. I've had a good experience overall. As with anything like this, there will always be people who do minimal work. Its up to you to stay on top of these people and make sure they do their job, or fine someone else that will.