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[quote=Anonymous]I've mentioned in this forum my concerns about my 14 month old DS, and that I was having him evaluated through MoCo's Infants and Toddlers program.  The second (more formal) part of the evaluation was today, after which we were given some feedback on his development in various areas.  The evaluators did not leave a copy of the evaluaiont (I understood that it will be reviewed in detail before it a report is finalized), but my memory of the "scores" they mentioned is as follows:

Gross motor and Self-care - both 13 months
Receptive language/communication - I think this is the one that was 6 months
Expressive language/communication, Cognition, Fine motor, and Social development - all 9 or 10 months

So of the 5 potential areas in which he might eligible for Early Intervention Services (Cognitive development, Physical development, Speech and Language development, Psychosocial development and Self-help skills), he qualified in all but Self-help skills.

The only ones of these "scores" that really took me by surprise were the cognitive and the receptive language.  We see DS figuring more and more things out on his own and problem-solving these past several weeks, and so I guess it was suprising to see that developmentally he's that far behind in cognition.  But, the evaluators said that the cognition score is impacted a lot by the communication and fine motor issues (the fine motor delay was also a bit surprising, I guess), and that as those develop further the cognitive development follows along.  And I guess that DH and I don't really know anyway what a 14 month old should be doing cognitively (DS is our first child).  The other score that took me by surprise was the receptive language one, if I'm remembering correctly and that's indeed the one that was 6 months.  I knew DS was very behind across the board in the area of communication, but it was a bit shocking to hear that in any area of development he is at only the 6 month level.

It was all a lot of information to take in today, and - not having some sort of report to refer back to just yet - I really can't recall all the details, and didn't ask the evaluators all the questions I wanted to ask, or even know what questions I might want to ask once I have some more time to think it all through.  But, the impression I was left with from what they said and their responses to what I asked were that:

1) DS will have 1 weekly, ~1 hour long session with a single therapist who will address all of the areas in which he qualifies for services.  These sessions will start in the next few weeks.
2) Any concerns we (DH and I, or DS's pediatrician) might have about autism or other specific developmental delay conditions/diagnoses should be addressed with his pediatrician.  Infants and Toddlers will not do any of the specific diagnostic evaluations.
3) DS/his development/his progress will be re-assessed (I think only informally) in about 6 months, and in 1 year (I think more formally, to see whether he still qualifies for services).

So I guess that other than general feedback from anyone here with experience (which I would greatly, greatly appreciate - I would very much like to hear ANY and all thoughts you might have), my other questions really center around: what do I do from here?  DS has his 15 month appointment with his Ped in a few weeks, and I will obviously discuss all of this with his Ped then.  (However, I should mention that the Ped he had for the first ~11 months and who we LOVED and was very involved/attentive has now left the practice, and the other Peds we've seen at the practice since then don't really "know" my son the way his first Ped did.)  But, given that I've read here that waiting times are very long for appointments with developmental pediatricians, should I go ahead and try to set up an appointment with one now for DS?  If so, any specific recommendations?  We are in MoCo, but our insurance covers us everywhere (assuming we'll have coverage for a developmental ped, which I need to check into obviously, but I know we don't need referrals for specialists), and so we can go anywhere in the DC region or anywhere outside the DC region, too.  What else do I need or should I start looking into, to get my son the help that he needs?  One weekly session to address all these different delays seems like it's not enough... but I don't really know what's typical, or how much progress he might make once DH and I are given some strategies to use with DS around the clock.

I may have further questions (I have a zillion questions, actually, but most aren't immediate or things that others could help with), but I would really, really appreciate any insight, thoughts, suggestions, comments, recommendations, etc. that anyone is able to offer.  Thank you so much.[/quote]

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