Doodle, now 4, was my earliest talker. He starting sputtering “Mama” and “Dada” around 10 months (neither of his big sisters said a word until around 14 months.) From there her picked up a few words here and there: ball, milk, play. And that’s where his speech development pretty much stopped.
By two he had a sizable vocabulary and the pediatrician wasn’t too worried because he was understanding language without trouble. But by two and a half, when he wasn’t putting two words together, we both became concerned and we agreed that an evaluation with the local early intervention office would be a good idea.
But something funny happened: within a week of seeing the pediatrician, he started making sentences. It was as if he listened to our conversation and realized he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to so started talking.
By three, his speech development had begun slipping back, and he was not keeping up with his peers. And by three and a half, he was, again, outside the realm of typical speech development. But we’d missed the window for early intervention services.
Yet, when I began to worry again, he made a big leap again, going from simple sentences to elaborate stories. And while we still struggled with understanding him at times (when he’s tired, excited or trying to say something new), he was nearly back up to level with his peers!
And so it’s gone: get behind, make a huge speech development leap, get behind, make a huge leap… Constantly making me question if I needed to get him evaluated.
But after that three year old cut off, getting services is a challenge. You’re left with navigating the system yourself (and paying for it if your insurance won’t pick it up) or going through the public school district which in many places is a long, drawn out process with lots of waiting and patience required.
Then I heard about Help me Grow Florida, a statewide program aimed to promote the healthy development of every child in Florida. They offer health and development screenings; specialist referrals and support; community programs; as well as information and other resources.
I quickly went online to complete the developmental screening (you can also call your local 2-1-1 and be put in touch with a developmental specialist who will do the evaluation over the phone.) The evaluation was easy questions about Doodle’s overall development and I received a call back from my local office in less than 24 hours.
My Help Me Grow care coordinator talked to me through Doodle’s results and completed an over the phone social-emotional questionnaire. We talked through my specific concerns about Doodle’s speech development and per the evaluation, his speech development came back well within the typical range for his age and there were no concerns and no need for follow-up services.
Had he been flagged as needing additional screenings or services, Help Me Grow Florida would have helped me through the whole process from finding a care provider to arranging appointments and following up with his progress.
I can’t even tell you the relief I felt from hearing official results that he was doing okay. To know Doodle is on track is certainly a relief and the free services from Help Me Grow Florida made getting that speech development evaluation easy and effortless. And the peace of mind of knowing everything is okay is invaluable.
Help Me Grow Florida helps all parents and young kids, up to age 8, with receiving evaluations and developmental screenings and established services as needed. There are no income, location or other requirements to participate so any parent with any concern can get help.
You can find your local Help Me Grow Florida office by calling 2-1-1 and asking for Help Me Grow or going online and find your local Help Me Grow Florida location.
You can also download this handy chart for language development in the first year:
