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And by “being an advocate”, I don’t mean being an advocate for adoption. I mean being an advocate for your child.
This goes without saying, I know. If you suspect your child has delays–regardless of whether he or she is biological or adopted–it is your responsibility as a parent to seek attention and assistance in whatever form necessary to benefit your child’s well being. However, many internationally born children face some developmental delays, be it physically, emotionally, in language, or so on.
When Beauty arrived home from Guatemala at nine months of age, she couldn’t hold her head up when placed on her stomach, let alone roll, crawl, or sit up. She had never eaten off a spoon and was unable to grasp the concept at first. However, she babbled incessantly and everyone seemed to think language would be the least of her problems. Suffice to say, everyone was wrong.
We sought out our Early Intervention services after discussing our concerns with her language and toe-walking with our pediatrician. The EI services in our state assessed her briefly and suggested weekly in-home speech therapy. It’s been fantastic and has really helped make strides with her development of language. However, they weren’t concerned about her inability to feed herself at almost two years of age (she couldn’t grasp the technicalities of either a spoon or a fork, no matter how hard she tried) and they passed her toe-walking off as something that she’d simply grow out of. We then sought out an evaluation from the Easter Seals. They were amazing; the assessments took several hours over the span of a month and were very thorough. They suggested trying for a spot in their preschool program after Beauty celebrates her third birthday, and gave us a few exercises to do at home with Beauty for her toe-walking.
Overall, we were pleased, but still concerned. We recently returned to her pediatrician and received a referral for an occupational therapist to assist with Beauty’s toe-walking. We plan to set up a weekly appointment (if we can) and continue on with the exercises at home. She’s still in weekly speech therapy, and we’ll definitely look into the Easter Seals preschool when she celebrates her third birthday in March.
So what’s my point? My point is that sometimes you have to fight for the help you (as a parent) feel your child needs. We lucked out with a very proactive pediatrician who wants Beauty to succeed as much as we do. It helps to have her in our corner, but ultimately, it is our responsibility as parents to obtain the care and assistance we feel she needs. I’m not suggesting you bail on your pediatrician if he/she feels your child is on track and you do not; instead, I am suggesting you expand your search for information and assistance at any cost. You are your child’s best advocate; you are the number one person in his or her corner. If you feel your child has been misdiagnosed or under-diagnosed, pursue other outlets of assistance, information, and treatment. You are the best head start he or she can receive. Fight the fair fight, but don’t let anyone convince you that you’re being “paranoid” or “overprotective”. No one knows your child better than you do.
