How do you know if your child even has a delay? You may think this an obvious question, but it’s not. Many parents who’s children have some sort of delay struggle with this question for months, even years before they do something about it and get their child the help they need. They don’t want to believe there is something wrong with their child. They keep telling themselves that he will catch up, he’ll be fine. A lot of times kids do catch up and they are fine, sometimes they don’t. The sooner your child gets the help he needs the better.
Let’s say your child is two and not talking yet or maybe not walking yet, three and not putting together words or speaking in sentences, four and hasn’t learned colors and shapes. Something’s wrong. Your child may be delayed. He could have a physical or mental delay, or he could have something along the lines of Autism or another diagnosable disorder. It’s not something to be ashamed of, it’s something you need to take action on, now.
How Do I Know If My Child Has Autism
Autism effects many children and at differing degrees. Just because your child does not show some of the more major symptoms of Autism does not mean that he is not somewhere on the Autism spectrum. Many children on the Autism spectrum go undiagnosed and don’t get help or counseling that will help them grow to be well adjusted functioning adults.
Autism spectrum is a phrase that encompasses a wide range of issues from full blown Autism to Asperger’s Syndrome and PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder). Children on the Autism spectrum are often labeled as “different”, “unique”, “socially slow”, “emotional”. They often have trouble either making friends or keeping friends, or both. They do things differently than most children. They are difficult to discipline because they don’t understand or care, deep down, how the punishments will effect them after the first 10 minutes or so. They have meltdowns and temper tantrums. They sometimes don’t know or care when they hurt someone, or themselves.
Meltdowns are a chain of events caused by something overstimulating. Being in crowded areas, bright lights, loud noises or high expectations by a teacher or parent may cause a meltdown. They may lash out hitting others or banging their head but they are not being aggressive, they are just trying to find a way to deal with the intense feelings they are feeling.
Major meltdowns where they lash out at others and sometimes hurt themselves or others are referred to as temper tantrums by many of us with autistic children and by their counselors. These temper tantrums are more on the aggressive side than a regular meltdown. They are mad because they had a favorite toy taken away or didn’t get their way. This is when they want to hurt you or themselves to get attention and get the thing back that was taken away.
Physical Delays
A physical delay can be something as simple as not walking by 18 months of age. It can also be not being able to build with blocks or walk a straight line. Sometimes a physical delay can be found as early as six months old when your child is supposed to be trying to turn himself over and maybe even sit up, but can’t. Sometimes a physical delay won’t be caught until the child is three or four when he is supposed to be playing with small toys and building blocks, but can’t. Maybe he’s five and still can’t run and play with the other kids.
Mental Delays
Children usually start saying “da da” before they are six months old. They start exploring their fingers and toes around this time too. By eight months old they are often sitting up on their own and starting to eat simple foods like Cheerios and they are saying more words, maybe from four to ten words. By 18 months they should be walking and putting words together to make sentences. If they can’t do these things by the time they’re two it’s time to get them checked.
Getting Help
If you live in the U.S. chances are you have an Intermediate Unit near you. An Intermediate Unit is a place where your child can get tested and, if found to be delayed, can get help. If you don’t know where your local Intermediate Unit is or how to get hold of them, ask your local school district for help.
Your local Intermediate Unit will either have you come to their office or send someone out to your house to evaluate your child. They do some things that look like they are playing with your child. This is a series of tests, but fun tests that your child will really enjoy. From these tests they will be able to tell you if your child has any delays.
They will take this information back to the Intermediate Unit to come up with a plan to help your child. If your child does need some specific help they will either have you go somewhere or have someone come to your house each week to help both you and your child. They will teach you skills that you can use throughout the week to help your child and they will do thing with him to help him when they see him.
They may give you an indication what to do next on top of what they are going to do. You may have to take your child to a specialist to get a formal diagnosis if they suspect a mental delay, Autism or something else. This diagnosis will help them help you more. The diagnosis will also help your insurance know what they are treating your child for.
In some states you can get state funded insurance for children with disabilities. Check with your local Welfare office to find out if this is an option for you.
