Talk to me about your Early Intervention experience

[schwanda]

I just called our county's early intervention program to have Zachary evaluated. He clearly has a gross motor delay (not walking at almost 18 months) and several people have suggested I call.
Tell me about your experiences with EI. What is the evaluation process like? What is necessary for a child to qualify?

Amanda

[pam]

This was our situation. I'm a bit tired so please pardon the rambling

Amelia also had a gross motor delay. She didn't start walking until about 20 months due to low motor tone & hyperflexibility (she can still put her toes into her mouth). There is clearly a family history of delays in gross motor skills since 2 of Amelia's 3 cousins were late walkers & both had the same types of issues (one later excelled in competitive gymnastics). Amelia was seeing a variety of doctors, so I was able to get her in to PT maybe a little after she turned 1. When we had to switch insurance, we met with an OT who asked if Amelia was with the Regional Center (one of the providers of EI here). I hadn't thought of it at the time so I contacted them. I provided some information on the phone. They sent me additional forms to complete about my pregnancy, our family history as well as Amelia's health & development. I may have submitted some information from her doctors. By the time of the meeting, Amelia had just started walking. It was clear at the time that it was new for her. The actual meeting consisted of them coming out to our house & doing a variety of tests (all play based focusing on different areas of development). I was asked additional questions. I believe there were three people who came out to our house but they were there all together at the same time. She qualified for services. I believe that gross motor delay in her case was adequate to qualify. She was considered a little delayed with her fine motor but I don't think that really would have qualified her. EI ended up paying for her PT, OT & providing some in home services focusing on fine motor since that was not an area of focus in her OT. She aged out of EI at 3. I sought further testing just to make sure, even though I knew she wouldn't qualify. She was assessed by the school district & a psychologist. She didn't qualify. The PT seemed to make a difference.

[Karri]

Ours was relatively painless and smooth, as far as I recall. Although my memory from that time is pretty fuzzy

I think that once we were pretty certain Norah had a speech delay, my pedi put in a referral w/ our county's birth-to-three program. The program contacted me within 2 weeks and someone came out to my house and evaluated her (it was an OT, a PT, and a caseworker). I think they evaluated everything - not just speech. But that may have been b/c she was a preemie. I don't remember. She had to have at least a 25% delay, which she did, and which they figured out on the spot. They called me relatively soon after that to let me know which SLPs had openings, just so that I could pick one to fit into my schedule. And from there on, it was smooth sailing. A month before she was 3, they arranged a IEP w/ the school district for me, and she was still delayed, so she was transferred to the care of the school district the week after her 3rd birthday. Which is where she's still at today. I am really glad we got help when we did. I know that my friend's son, who is in the same grade as my daughter, is wishing she did something for her son's fine motor skills, because now he's behind, but she's fighting the school district to do an IEP w/ him.

[schwanda]

Thanks Pam and Karri for the info. The pediatrician isn't sure he'll qualify because he may not be delayed enough but I've heard that the program is fabulous if they do qualify. The OT/PT will go to our daycare center and work with him there so it's very convenient!

Amanda

[Shel]

Owen was only 5 weeks early, but they still evaulated him for everything, so maybe they do that for everyone. He was having major speech issues. When they did his evaluation, the EI coordinator came and brought a speech therapist, occupational therapist and physical therapist. They basically sat on the ground with him and played with him for about an hour. Pretty easy.

[Cami]

I had Aubrey evaluated for speech at one point. The ped gave me the department to call (I think). It was similar to the other experiences-- someone came to the house for the evaluation and talked to her while she played with toys. She was evaluated for everything although I knew it was only speech where she was behind. However, in that county, the delay had to be pretty significant to qualify and Aubrey did not, although I think she should have.

[AmyP]

The process was simple, at least for me. And I've been through it with both kids. They took some basic info over the phone - birth date, whether or not the child was full-term, and the concerns I had.

I also got a form to fill out in the mail. It got into more specifics, like the age when they sat up, drank from a sippy, stopped nursing, gave up the bottle, held head up, crawled, etc.

In my state, there are three ways to qualify: a 25% delay in any area (which would qualify Zachary as walking is a 12-month skill and at 16 months if the child is not walking, that's a 25% delay), being premature (that obviously qualifies him too), and/or having certain conditions that might cause a delay (Down's Syndrome, for example).

The in person evaluation was pretty simple, at least for the kids. They sat and played with them for a while. They gave tests in all areas and told me where they fell in each area. Speech (receptive and expressive), gross motor, fine motor, cognition, feeding, self-help, toileting, and maybe something else I'm forgetting.

Then after it was determined they had delays, they set up a meeting where we'd set up the IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan, basically the Early Intervention version of an IEP). That's where they would write specific goals, and specify how often they'd get various types of therapy. For example, when Sean wasn't walking, the goal was for him to walk five feet without stopping or falling. When Sarah wasn't crawling, she had to crawl three feet. And for speech issues, they needed to be able to communicate a specific number of needs through words and/or signs.

Hope this helps.

[schwanda]

Thanks again for the info. Zachary was 6 weeks early and I felt he was motor delayed since age 6 months. My pediatrician didn't feel he was delayed until about 13 months. We talked about EI but decided to wait.
His verbal skills are superior for his age but I'm hoping he'll qualify for PT.

Amanda

[stass]

Sounds like you have all the info you need. I also found it too be easy and very helpful after the initial sad feeling that Saxon was different.

[Lyoshka]

No advice here, but wanted to just offer my support..

[schwanda]

Thanks for all the info/support. I'm actually not terribly stressed about it. The reason I didn't call sooner is that Zachary makes forward progress every week (no pun intended). He now cruises well and has taken a handful of steps (literally - I think he's taken 5 total). I think he'd be perfectly fine without PT but I've heard great things about PT and EI. I'm more worried about the choking. I probably should have had him evaluated by speech and swallow a long time ago. The funny thing is that his speech is excellent which is surprising because he has swallowing issues.
Now I just need the EI people to call me back and schedule an eval!

Amanda

[Dennis]

We had Joe's when he was about 6 or 8 months old. They came to our house to do the eval. He qualified for PT and OT and the therapists went to daycare so it was very convenient. Here, the county covers it until they turn 3 and then the school district takes over, but he "graduated" by then.

[schwanda]

Thanks Dennis!
The EI person called me back to take down our info. She said the coordinator should call me in the next 5-7 days.

Amanda