When Should I Be Concerned About my Child’s Development?

When Should I Be Concerned About my Child’s Development?

By Josh MacDonald, OTR/L

Kids Place Clinic Director and Pediatric Occupational Therapist

As pediatric therapists, we get asked this question a lot.  Parents will ask us about their child’s eating habits, if their child should be walking by 12 months, why their child cannot tie their shoes in first grade, and countless other areas of childhood development.  Through our many years of experience we are able to offer our best and most reasonable answer based on typical development; however, many times the best answer begins with “it depends.”

If you are blessed to have a child without any major medical concerns, you will inevitably spend time worrying over every other aspect of their development and growth.  When an area of development seems to be lagging behind, most people turn to the Internet for answers.  Unfortunately, the Internet is full of conflicting data and just enough information to thoroughly confuse and frustrate parents.   So if not the Internet, then where should you turn for answers?

Our first suggestion is to spend time around other children the same age.  Get your child involved in play groups or play dates with other children the same age.  This will give your child a chance to work on socialization skills and peer play as well as give you a chance to see what other kids are doing.  There is no “one right answer” to when a child should acquire any given skill.  Because each child develops differently you are likely to find out that your child excels in some areas and not in others.  Whether it happens in a church nursery, park play group, or one-on-one play date, give your child lots of chances to play with others.  They will learn from the skills of others as well as improve their social skills.

If you still have concerns about your child’s development, you can browse the Internet, but we urge caution.  Stick to websites attached to institutions with substantial reputations.  Stay away from any website whose parent organization you don’t know or can’t identify from their home page.  Also stay away from individuals’ blog posts or websites.  There might be accurate information, but you can’t distinguish the difference between good and bad blog sources.  Below are a couple suggestions of the type of sites you can research:

University of Michigan: http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/devmile.htm

State of Florida Family Health Agency: http://www.floridahealth.gov/alternatesites/cms-kids/families/child_family_info/your_childs_development/development_milestones.html. 

If spending time around other children of similar age and research on reputable websites leaves you concerned or uncertain, you can ask your doctor for a referral for an evaluation with a Physical, Occupational or Speech Therapist.  These specialists will be able to complete an initial evaluation between 45-60 minutes and give you solid information (based on experience and standardized tests) about your child’s development.  If additional services are necessary, they will help you determine which specialist is best suited for your child.  This may mean a visit to a different clinician (developmental optometrist, neurologist or developmental pediatrician), but the value of being certain is worth the extra appointment. 

It isn’t easy being a parent, and life is full of questions.  We all want the best for our kids.  Knowing how to achieve that is not easy.  There are options and resources available to help you answer these questions.  If you are still unsure, feel free to contact us at Kids Place, and we will work with you to schedule an appointment for an evaluation.