Myth 19 - Your should just observe your child with speech or motor delays because he will probably eventually grow out of it.
If you think that your child is not meeting his normal speech or language developmental milestones, if he is at high risk of developing a hearing problem, or has school performance problems, then it is very important that his hearing be formally tested by a professional. Again, it is not enough that they think that your child hears because he responds to a loud clap or bell in the doctor's office or because he comes when you call him from another room.
Parents are usually the first ones to think that there is a problem with their child's speech development and/or hearing, and this parental concern should be enough to initiate furthur evaluation. In addition to a formal hearing test and developmental assessment by their Pediatrician, children with speech and language delays should be referred to an early childhood intervention program (for children under 3) or the local school district (for children over 3), so that an evaluation and treatments can be initiated by a psychologist (if indicated) and/or a speech therapist/pathologist.
Early diagnosis is also important if your child has motor delays, so that treatment can be started, and your doctor will probably refer you to an Early Childhood Intervention program if your child is not meeting age appropriate gross motor milestones, such as sitting up or walking.
Next > You should always or your should never __________ .
(c) 2001 by Vincent Iannelli, M.D. (http://pediatrics.about.com), licensed to About.com, Inc. Used by permission of About.com, Inc., which can be found on the Web at www.about.com. All rights reserved.
|
