developmental delay and "catching up"

73trix

My LO has delayed development in some areas, but not in others. He has an underlying neurological issue - seizure related- but in the last couple of months has made a lot of progress, since seizures stopped, meds stopped etc. It's as if a lightbulb went on and he caught up a few months.

Obviously, it is a totally impossible and wishful question, but can some kids catch up to their peer group? I'm told that's it's a mild delay currently. I realize that there is the risk of a mild learning disability down the tracks which I hope will not be the case, but he's learning so much at the moment. Has anyone experience of a child being delayed due to a medical condition (as an example) but catching up to relatively normal range over time? There is an opinion that I will know a lot more when he hits 2 as an overall indicator/ predictor. He's 20 months at present and it appears to be mainly a speech delay.

He's linked to early intervention but only quite recently.

farmchoice

how long is a piece of string? not much use as an answer but its impossible to give you a straight answer. but if you are wondering can it happen then the answer is yes.

our lad had a serious speech delay and a few other issues which he has completely overcome and has caught up to his peers more or less ,he is in school now but it took until now for him to catch up i'd say the darkest days were between 3and a half and 4 and a half so keep the faith, and stick with the program so to speak

Mink

Based solely on what you've said OP, it sounds like he'll catch up grand.

My son only had about 10 words at 2 so the PHN referred him to SLT. He's only had assessments since then (approx every 6 months) and because he was always making progress and catching up, she hasn't put him on a program as such (just general advice for home). He's due another assessment next week and if all okay he will get released from their "books". He'll be 4 in August and he's probably 3-6mths behind his peers (that's my estimation, SLT had said a few months).

Neither the PHN at recent visit nor his play school teachers have voiced any concerns when I asked them so I think it's all plain sailing from here. He'll be just 5 going into Junior Infants so he'll have caught up even more over the next year.

Word to the wise, I have found that I get very upset (inwardly) when I hear stories/anecdotes from other parents about all the stuff their kid can do/say. I swear to god I'm surrounded by child prodigies! Anyway, my advice is just shut it out, it doesn't do any good to compare your child to others. The amount of times I should have stepped away from Google!

Just enjoy them as they are and go with your gut and the professionals.

73trix

farmchoice wrote: »

how long is a piece of string? not much use as an answer but its impossible to give you a straight answer. but if you are wondering can it happen then the answer is yes.

our lad had a serious speech delay and a few other issues which he has completely overcome and has caught up to his peers more or less ,he is in school now but it took until now for him to catch up i'd say the darkest days were between 3and a half and 4 and a half so keep the faith, and stick with the program so to speak

Thank you for your positive story. It's important for me to have some hope.

73trix

Mink wrote: »

Based solely on what you've said OP, it sounds like he'll catch up grand.

My son only had about 10 words at 2 so the PHN referred him to SLT. He's only had assessments since then (approx every 6 months) and because he was always making progress and catching up, she hasn't put him on a program as such (just general advice for home). He's due another assessment next week and if all okay he will get released from their "books". He'll be 4 in August and he's probably 3-6mths behind his peers (that's my estimation, SLT had said a few months).

Neither the PHN at recent visit nor his play school teachers have voiced any concerns when I asked them so I think it's all plain sailing from here. He'll be just 5 going into Junior Infants so he'll have caught up even more over the next year.



Word to the wise, I have found that I get very upset (inwardly) when I hear stories/anecdotes from other parents about all the stuff their kid can do/say. I swear to god I'm surrounded by child prodigies! Anyway, my advice is just shut it out, it doesn't do any good to compare your child to others. The amount of times I should have stepped away from Google!

Just enjoy them as they are and go with your gut and the professionals.

Your little guy sounds like he is doing great. I totally get what you are saying about those inward feelings and trying not to compare. I'm going through a bad day or two at the moment. I'm just so worried. I can be grand for a couple of weeks and then bang. Watching other kids of similar age and younger really hurts cos I can see the difference. He is my one and only and I am consumed by trying to help him with his development. I have experience of working with children with disabilities so I do have some knowledge and sometimes, too much is not a good thing either. Sometimes i find it a bit draining but I know how critical these early years are.

Sorry for the moan. I'll be fine again tomorrow, back to enjoying my little guy and celebrating his each and every little achievement.This is my coping pattern...

lazygal

You must be so worried op. When I was a Montessori teacher one of the little boys in my class had a lot of developmental delays, especially speach, language and communication. He had a lot of SLT help and an SNA in school. I met him for the first time in a few years last month, he's 12 now and you'd never know he had any issues whatsover. His mum said he'll be going to secondary school and he's no different to his peers. Just thought a longer term story might help.

73trix

lazygal wrote: »

You must be so worried op. When I was a Montessori teacher one of the little boys in my class had a lot of developmental delays, especially speach, language and communication. He had a lot of SLT help and an SNA in school. I met him for the first time in a few years last month, he's 12 now and you'd never know he had any issues whatsover. His mum said he'll be going to secondary school and he's no different to his peers. Just thought a longer term story might help.

Thank you so much for your kind reply.

tinkerbell

Aw, 73 you must be so worried. The good news is that early intervention really helps these things. A bit of extra help and the child can come on leaps and bounds. Each child is different - some child may walk at 9 months, and another at 18 months! Some may have full sentences really early, while others have only a few words. They'll do it their own time. Follow the advice of the professionals and hopefully you'll see lots of progress over the next 6 months. I've heard the same as lazygal with regards SNAs and the child advancing have really quick and not needing any extra help after a short while! Chin up

have2flushtwice

tinkerbell wrote: »

Aw, 73 you must be so worried. The good news is that early intervention really helps these things. A bit of extra help and the child can come on leaps and bounds. Each child is different - some child may walk at 9 months, and another at 18 months! Some may have full sentences really early, while others have only a few words. They'll do it their own time. Follow the advice of the professionals and hopefully you'll see lots of progress over the next 6 months. I've heard the same as lazygal with regards SNAs and the child advancing have really quick and not needing any extra help after a short while! Chin up

It's a long road is life. If a teenager does honours English and his peers do pass, is he that far ahead? Know a 2 year old who didn't have 15 words for his assessment... nurse took a "Dim view" and a poor outlook. Two months later he has over 100 id say!
If he can pick things up, he will continue to pick things up. Thats the ability you should b looking out for.

73trix

have2flushtwice wrote: »

It's a long road is life. If a teenager does honours English and his peers do pass, is he that far ahead? Know a 2 year old who didn't have 15 words for his assessment... nurse took a "Dim view" and a poor outlook. Two months later he has over 100 id say!
If he can pick things up, he will continue to pick things up. Thats the ability you should b looking out for.

Update: 6 months on and has been quite the roller-coaster. A few wks after posting, we had a developmental review and it went really badly. My little man was really anti the clinical setting, wouldn't really cooperate with the assessment etc. The doc flagged ASD cos he failed the early screen. Now, that was not a total shock cos I had some concerns tbh. Yet, fast forward 2-3 months later to 2 yrs of age and he totally passes the MCHAT. Not one fail at all. He's made a burst with language, albeit mostly unclear, but we and minder understand 75% of what he says. Starting to put 2words together. Lots more social. But we applied for the Assessment of Need anyway as it's still a "query". I know kids can pass MCHAT and still have ASD but they are a low percentage so will keep up hope. I have to. It's a head wreck but he is v social now and has no fixations / repetitive play/ sensory issues that I can see. Fingers crossed. 23 months now.

Kate253

Young kids can surprise us. They can make such progress. Hopefully your little one continues to do so. No harm to get the assessment anyway, if only for that reassurance.

appledrop

Yes my friends little boy was delayed in his speech + went for speech therapy + now he is flying. Once they get the help they can really improve.

73trix

Update. Little guy is now 2yrs 3months. Is learning lots more words but mostly single words. Quite warm and social. Seems to understand simple commands. He is with early intervention and we have applied for AON.

There's rarely a long spell that I get to relax and think all will be ok. The latest concern is that he is obsessed with numbers and counting. He sees numbers everywhere and in everything. He reads bar codes on things cos he can see the teeny numbers. If we pass a road sign or a car, he zones in on the number plate and starts counting. Feck sake, now I'm back worried about ASD even tho I had got convinced he didn't have enough traits.

Is this quirky numbers thing ever "normal"??

January

What is 'normal'? No child is 'normal' they all have their different quirks and abilities, even kids with no special needs.

My little boy will be 3 in May and he's only recently started stringing more than two words together into sentences.

Moonbeam

My just gone 4 year old is obsessed with numbers and counting.
He is fantastic at basic maths and has no issues,it is just his thing.
He is better at maths then his 6 year old(today) sister.

73trix

Moonbeam wrote: »

My just gone 4 year old is obsessed with numbers and counting.
He is fantastic at basic maths and has no issues,it is just his thing.
He is better at maths then his 6 year old(today) sister.

Thanks so much for positive stories. I'll keep them in mind. When I Googled it, there was lots of reference to Autism. I had gone into a bubble of not believing he could have ASD as he doesn't have other classic traits but this set me back again. Yes, I know you are shouting - don't Google but hey....

Someone has suggested I need to relax. I wish I could, i really do. Some weeks I don't think about it, other weeks I do. When your kid has been flagged as " query autism " it can sit in your head as it is very scary as it is not what anyone would wish for their kid and I have personal and work related experience of kids with ASD so it's v hard to not read into every quirky/ obsessive thing but it's encouraging to hear that it can also be an non ASD thing.It's very hard to relax when it is your one and only and I find it helpful to read positive stories and keep some hope going. It will be another while before we get the ASD assessment and the waiting is difficult and worrying. Right or wrong.

January

I've been there, what will be will be. You can't change the outcome so do try not to worry so much.

cyning

73trix we all cope with things differently. Like you I'd be someone to zone in on things too. My little girl has no issues in that regard but she does tend to become obsessed with repeating habits/traits for weeks at a time. At the moment it's sticking her tongue out and rolling it. Before that it was making a popping noise with her tongue. Before that it was chewing her sleeves. She will also fixate on phrases: she says I'm hungry as a sort of reflex to everything at the moment! I think it's just an age thing, and she will grow out of it. Obviously when you are going through early intervention it's very worrying trying to gauge what's normal and what's not.

neonsofa

January wrote: »

I've been there, what will be will be. You can't change the outcome so do try not to worry so much.

This is so true, difficult to do when you're in it but very true.

My little one was obsessed with lining things up neatly in order of size, everything had to have its place, always tidying obsessively, my parents kept saying it's OCD or autism, and i rolled my eyes. Now no professionals had ever mentioned this so it wasn't as much an issue as these things can be for you, because every trait is almost like confirmation for you in your case. Then when my little one started slapping herself I did get worried and mentioned to the public health nurse and was assured it's all "normal". And it was. She grew out of it- her room is a mess. They are learning their world and can get excited about certain things just like adults can. That's not to say it's not a sign of ASD but he's going to go through this phase either way.

You are obviously heightened to all of these things and almost looking for confirmation at the moment but if you were to take every "weird" thing they do as proof of an issue you'll worry yourself sick. Some kids are just their own little characters and have out of the ordinary quirks. Whether his quirks are an indication of ASD or not isn't possible to say but just love the hell out of him and his quirks and join in on his enthusiasm for now.

73trix

neonsofa wrote: »

This is so true, difficult to do when you're in it but very true.

My little one was obsessed with lining things up neatly in order of size, everything had to have its place, always tidying obsessively, my parents kept saying it's OCD or autism, and i rolled my eyes. Now no professionals had ever mentioned this so it wasn't as much an issue as these things can be for you, because every trait is almost like confirmation for you in your case. Then when my little one started slapping herself I did get worried and mentioned to the public health nurse and was assured it's all "normal". And it was. She grew out of it- her room is a mess. They are learning their world and can get excited about certain things just like adults can. That's not to say it's not a sign of ASD but he's going to go through this phase either way.

You are obviously heightened to all of these things and almost looking for confirmation at the moment but if you were to take every "weird" thing they do as proof of an issue you'll worry yourself sick. Some kids are just their own little characters and have out of the ordinary quirks. Whether his quirks are an indication of ASD or not isn't possible to say but just love the hell out of him and his quirks and join in on his enthusiasm for now.

Thanks. It probably seems as tho I think of nothing else but of course I adore and really enjoy my little guy who is a little dote and cute as As I mentioned before I Park my worries for chunks of time and then something happens or someone passes comments or I'm working with a little kid who has a diagnosis and does something similar and I get anxious again. I don't mention a fraction of my worries to his dad as he doesn't have the same experience as I do and envy his total oblivion to the half of it. Sometimes we can " know too much".