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I have a son that is that might have development disability. He's almost 3 and a half but he still does not converse with us. We are also having a hard time potty training him.
Anyhow, I heard that in New Jersey, the state has a service that would come to our house or day care to diagnose if the kid has any problem. I was wondering how do I go about getting my son diagnosed.
Should I just take him to his pediatrician first? Or is there a state department that I can contact directly.
I would take him to the pediatrician first, you probably need a referral or prescription for him (for most therapies you need a Dr's prescription no matter what age). He will know where to refer you. My niece has twins, one of whom has some mild delays because he spent his first 5 weeks in the hospital. On his last visit the Dr. recommended home PT, and gave her a Rx and a number to call for NJ Early Intervention services.
I actually can't believe that although your child doesn't speak yet at 3 1/2, his pediatrician hasn't sent you to a speech therapist yet? IMO it might be time to find a new Dr. as well.
NJ Early Intervention (EI) only offer services to a child up to 3 years of age. They come to your house to offer diagnosis and therapy. After age 3 and if you child is diagnosed with a developmental problem, then he will go to a specialized pre-school designated by your township.
Like the other poster said, I'm surprised your pediatrician didn't suggest EI earlier. In NJ, EI is not free. There is a cost share that depends on your income, max up to 5% of your income.
My wife is a social worker. She said the first thing you should do is schedule an appointment with a developmental peditrician. Secondly, in your town go into the child study team office at the board office with a letter saying she has a child and wants to have him evualuated for services and school.
Definitely get written documentation from the development peditrician that something is wrong. I am not sure what county you are located in, so we can't give you more specific information on where to go to.
NJ Early Intervention (EI) only offer services to a child up to 3 years of age. They come to your house to offer diagnosis and therapy. After age 3 and if you child is diagnosed with a developmental problem, then he will go to a specialized pre-school designated by your township.
Like the other poster said, I'm surprised your pediatrician didn't suggest EI earlier. In NJ, EI is not free. There is a cost share that depends on your income, max up to 5% of your income.
Yes, go to the town, township, school district first. Our school district runs public service announcements.. "if you think that your child or know a child who may have learning disabilities... call this number". Don't go to the Developmental Pediatrician first. I did that and paid thousands of dollars only to have the school district run all of the same tests. If you disagree with those findings, consult with a DP for documentation and help.
If your child is not speaking, make sure that a hearing test is performed. Not speaking, problems with potty training and other things may point to an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Ask a lot of questions. Research, Google everything that you are told.
Many school districts have free preschools for DD children. When I worked in Galloway they had one self-contained class and 3 inclusion classes (a mix of delayed and normally developing children). They are for ages 3-5. The kids are provided with speech, occupational and physical therapy as needed. But the developmental pediatrician is first on the list.
Ditto what Gerania said. My child is 22 months with a development problem and we are working with EI now. Last week, I called Hackensack University Medical Center for developmental pediatric and found out they will not accept our insurance. It would cost $954 for a consultation. We looked elsewhere and ended up seeing a Pediatric Neurologist. I'm also told that there might be a 6 months wait for an appointment at HUMC.
In regards to why the pediatrician didn't say anything about, I think it's because we're Chinese and we do speak both English and Chinese at home. The pediatricians did say my son might light a bit slower due to him being bi-lingual.
From birth to almost his 3rd birthday, my mother-in-law takes care of him when me and wife go to work. I don't want to blame it on my in law becase she did a good job taking care of my son but I think she spoils him a little bit too much. She would do everything for him. As soon as my son screams or yell, she would bring her food, toys, etc. There was no incentive for my son to speak and ask for things in a proper way.
We start sending him to Day Care just before he turns three. He actually improves quite a bit since then. He is a lot more discipline and would talk a lot more, but most of the stuff he says in out of context or he just repeats what people just said. The Day Care teacher was the first one that suggests that we should have a specialist to take a look at him.
Again, thanks everyone for the info.
Last edited by Viralmd; 01-26-2010 at 08:33 AM..
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