developmental delay

We have finished all of our evauations and it was determined that both boys are about 38% delayed in expressive/receptive communication ability. They are in normal range for gross motor, fine motor and cognitive ability. Sooo, anyways, they'll be getting developmental therapy once a week.
I'm actually relieved about this. My oldes son has Asperger's syndrome and I had no idea. There were so many red flags right in front of me and I didn't have a clue. I always just thought he was quirky. I feel relieved to have some help and watchful eyes right from the getgo this time around. I'm praying they don't have Asperger's but if they do I definately want to catch it early and provide intervention early, an advantage my oldest didnt have. Don't get me wrong, he does really well and I'm soooooo proud of him. I think he'll someday grow up to be an astrophysicist or something, lol.
So anyways, thats where we are right now. Suprisingly, my husband is still not fully on board with them getting developmental therapy. He thinks it is "creepy" and doesn't want to admit that our babies may need a little extra help meeting milestones. At least he's not fighting me on this.

 

Leslie, thanks for the update. I think the earliest they get services, the better off they are. I hope your DH will see how helpful this will be for the kids. :hug:

 

thanks for the update! i'm glad they'll be getting the support they need. i'm sure your DH will come around once he sees that it's helping. :hug:

 

Leslie, if you don't mind me asking, what are some of the "red flags" you mentioned you saw with your older son? And, what is it about your twins that even made you get an evaluation to begin with? I'm just curious since my twins are my 1st and every so often they do (or don't do) something that makes me go "hmmm". My family all say everything is normal and the silly little quirks or facial expressions are what all toddlers do, etc. But, you just never know sometimes. And, Dr's visits are usually so short and it's a new surrounding, so the kids never act the way they do at home when we are there. Anyway, if you don't mind sharing . . . I'd be interested to know more about your experiences.
TIA!

 

I actually didn't seek out the evaluation with the twins. There is a 0-3 early intervention program here in town and they do free screenings at the daycares. They just use the basic denver developmental tool. If they notice any delays or see any red flags, they will set up a more in depth evaluation. This is pretty much how it went for us. However, you can request these screenings if you see things that are concerning. With the twins I have been concerned about autism red flags. At this age they should be waving bye bye and pointing to objects that they want. Neither are really doing this yet. They are babbling but they don't have any words yet. They don't call us mama or dada and Noah can't even say Mama yet. Hopefully, it is nothing to worry about and we can get them caught up with the developmental therapy.
I've been more in tune with the milestones with the twins because of my older son. I honestly can't remember everything from when he was a toddler because I wasn't looking for anything and I was young and just figured everything was normal. Kids with Aspergers do meet their milestones often normally, so they may not be noticeable until they get a little older and then have problems with social interactions and such. What I can remember with him was that he would bang his head on the floor when he was frustrated. It was to a degree that upset me and made me feel like people were thinking there was something wrong with him which made me more defensive. I remember my sister making some kind of comment that it seemed like he should be talking better (this was when he was 3) but those specific red flags like waving, eye contact, pointing, I just can't remember. Growing up, I always called him my quirky socially akward kid. He would pace, hit his head with his hand when he was frustrated, get easily frustrated mostly with himself. He is very smart, straight A student but doesn't have a friend group or most of all a best friend. He has a hard time with communicating and carrying on a two way conversation. Anyways, hope this is helpful. Sorry so long.

 

Thank you for sharing your (and your LOs) experiences. It does help a lot. :thanks:

 

Thank you so much for sharing! So great to hear that they got noticed earlier and will have some help catching up a bit.