14 month old - hard to tell

by anonymous

My daughter who is 14 months doesn't really fall into any of these sensory categories. If I had to pick it would be a visual "seeker" because she is all over the place (But what 14 month olds aren't)?




I have an appt to get her an eval in a month by OT. At 14 months she is not doing many skills that she "should" be doing. She will dump, but not fill. She does not point or gesture. She has no words (not even mama or dada). But, she makes excellent eye contact, she babbles with inflection, she "shows" (but does NOT give ie: give me the ball), and is very engaged with whoever plays with her (unless another baby). She doesn't wave bye bye, but gives kisses. The pointing and the filling/stacking are very worrisome for me. I have seen 10 month olds do it easily.

I don't think she is classic autistic (way too young to tell for sure) because of her engagement. Her comprehension is off the charts - she "knows" about 50 words. If you say "where is the giraffe", she will go get her giraffe, pick it up, look at it, look at you in your eyes and say "aye?" Isn't that encouraging?

I have been to countless website and I'm looking for reassurance or some help. I don't know what to do. any one have success with a story such as this? I wish I could just go into the future and see whether or not she will be okay. She seems SO SMART with everything. Just isn't doing what she should be doing.



Comments for 14 month old - hard to tell

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

Jan 04, 2010
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		WORRIED MOM
by: Anonymous

Hi i have 2 years old daughter i cant really tell that they have a very similar case. I was also worried then, she used to not point, no words just constantly jabber and babble her eye contact was not very good. She wont listen to me but i can tell that her hearing is very good. Her playing skills is not good either just dump things and no stacking. Wont say bye or hi, her gestures only then was flop her hands. Everytime i think of that time it makes me cry i am a first time mom and my parenting is based by the book. Every book i read about autism seems like my daughter got all the symptoms.

After months and months of thinking about it i just settle down and try to relax my self and think that If ever she is..what will i gonna do i just got to accept it. In her 15 month check i talk to the pedia all my concerns and the dr. told me to let see in 18 months and try to work on pointing and speech but 18 months passed seems like no improvement. The doctor refer us to the Early Intervention Program but it takes like 3-4 wks that weeks takes me forever. They evaluate everything gross,fine motor skills, playing skill and speech they will also ask a lot of question and interview.

In my daughters case she was dx of speech delayed and developmental delayed, she has speech and developmental therapist that helps a whole lot. The therapist also give me any ideas on what to do and i try to remember what kinds of toys they're using and i bought those kinds of toys others are very hard to finds you just have to improvise and creative but you can also see it online. Right now we added an OT to my daughter she also got a sensory issues like putting things in her mouth and very hesitant to play messy. Next wk is her 2 yr old check-up i might ask the Pedia if she still needs to see a Developmental Pediatrician, i will just let the dr decide that. Im not so worried right now my daughter is doing really well she point to things she wanna get and ask things what she wants, her eye contact is a whole lot better. Her speech is getting better too she tried to say things but its not clear you just have to listen really well to understand it she says a lot of animal sounds. and also i am a stay at home mom i put her in the daycare once a wk for 3 hrs just to expose to other kids at the same age and that helps too. Its just normal that moms get so worried especially we see other kids doing stuff that that our didnt do. That happen to me too everytime i see toodler somewhere in the mall or in the store i ask the mom the age..lol every kids develop differently you will just be surprise what your kid gonna do in a month.

Good luck. Hope my story makes you fell better.
Dec 30, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		call early intervention...
by: Anonymous

number 1-get her hearing tested.
number 2-call early intervention-you do it yourself-do not wait for your pediatrician to do it-some out there still are not proactive with it and often they know more about pediatric development than pedi and will give you a heck of a lot of information.
number 3-everybody's development is different. EI will tell you exactly where your child is with her fine motor, gross motor, expressive/receptive language etc. I have many kids and most were not emptying/filling at 10 months. All had speech issues-turns out narrow ear canals/fluids not coming out/draining out of ears-effects hearing (like hearing under water) and a speech therapist told me that for every ear infection you lose about 6 weeks of proficient hearing! Call early intervention, get the ball rolling, you won't regret it.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to SPD checklist.