Developmental Delays

DS's kindy is concerned about his development. I've brought it up a couple of times with my GP but he kind of blows it off....... He's a paed, and sees a lot of babies, so I always just thought he knew best. Now we're starting to wonder.

Things he should be doing, which he can't:

stacking blocks.
vocabulary into the double digits (He babbles a lot but only really says mum, dad, bub, and the odd clear word here and there)
walking. Ok well his clubfoot is preventing the walking, but it's worth mentioning.
pointing to body parts when named.
understanding and obeying simple commands. He can do some, but not many. Like 'give that to me' or 'come over here' but nothing more complex than that.
doesn't play on his own or with other children. He laughs, watches, points.... but doesn't interact like he should. He also prefers to 'bang' on things rather than use them for their intended purpose.
Very picky eater.

Other symptoms:

extremely clingy, won't amuse himself for more than a couple of minutes, just wants to be on one of us constantly. Separation anxiety?
arches his back and screams a lot.

That's about all I can think of right now, but does anyone have any experience with this? We're taking him to be checked out as soon as we can get an appointment... Still I'm curious what others think and if your child was like this, what was the outcome? Hearing that he might be delayed felt like such a failure even though I know deep down it's not my fault. Still, the first thing I thought was 'what did I do wrong?'

The orthopedic surgeon mentioned that clubfoot often goes hand in hand with more serious disabilities, but he didn't elaborate on that. Can anyone shed some light? Could he be autistic? :( He doesn't seem to process emotions well or understand why things happen or how. He just kind of screams and tantrums until he gets what he wants- which is to be held all the time. It's also possible that his temperament is getting in the way of his learning, but it's important to find out which it is. Is it the temperament affecting things, or is the fact that he's delayed causing the tantrums?

*sigh* I'm sad.

Oh I get so mad for parents when they say that they've expressed concern and have been fobbed off. That's not fair... not to mention not ethical. You're his mother, your instincts and observations are telling you something's up... your GP should give you the credit and the respect to follow through with more discussion and investigation.

I don't know anything about club foot specifically or its comorbidity (other disorders that it commonly presents with). It's hard to tell just from the info you've given what, if anything might be going on... The tendency to bang rather than play with objects does stand out to me, but alone is not enough, and he's still so little...

You queried autism... Here's some areas (questions taken from an autism acreening tool) you can think about and perhaps make notes on for your specialist appointment which will help them rule ASD in or out:
Emotion and Eye Gaze
Do you know when your child is happy and when your child is upset?
When your child plays with toys, does he/she look at you to see if you are watching?
Does your child smile or laugh while looking at you?
When you look at and point to a toy across the room, does your child look at it?

Communication
Does your child let you know that he/she needs help or wants an object out of reach?
When you are not paying attention to your child, does he/she try to get your attention?
Does your child do things to get you to laugh?
Does your child try to get you to notice interesting objects — just to get you to look at the objects, not to get you to do anything with them?

Gestures
Does your child pick up objects and give them to you?
Does your child show objects to you without giving you the object?
Does your child wave to greet people?
Does your child point to objects?
Does your child nod his/her head to indicate yes?

Sounds
Does your child use sounds or words to get attention or help?
Does your child string sounds together, such as uh oh, mama, gaga, bye-bye, bada?
About how many of the following consonant sounds does your child use? Ma, na, ba, da, ga, wa, la, ya, sa, sha?

Words
About how many words does your child use meaningfully that you recognize (such as baba for bottle; gaggie for doggie)?
Does your child put two words together (for example, more cookie, bye-bye Daddy)?

Understanding
When you call your child’s name, does he/she respond by looking or coming toward you?
About how many different words or phrases does your child understand without gestures? For example, if you say, “Where’s your tummy,” “where’s Daddy,” “Give me the ball” or “Come here,” without showing or pointing, will your child respond appropriately?

Object Use
Does your child show interest in playing with a variety of objects?
About how many of the following objects does your child use appropriately: cup, bottle, bowl, spoon, comb or brush, toothbrush, washcloth, boy, toy vehicle, toy telephone?
About how many blocks (or rings) does your child stack?
Does your child pretend to play with toys (for example, feed a stuffed animal, put a doll to sleep, put an animal figure in a vehicle?


Wishing you all the best Hun. Please, please try not to blame yourself if there is something going on. I've read your threads before... you are one hard-working, devoted, loving Mummy. Happy to chat via PM if you need. xox

Coming to terms with your child having a disability is SOOO hard :hug: remember that he is still young, and if his physical development is behind then he would probably not have the opportunity to "experience the world" the same as a typically developing child. Make sure you give him lots of opportunities to do lots of different things (without too much pressure on either of you!)

I too would be cross at the Dr for not taking your concerns seriously... if there are other issues then the earlier you get intervention the better! Maybe go back and say to the Dr you would really really really like a referral to a paed or a clinic for developmental disabilities - there may even be a waiting list, so you will have some more time to keep watching him while you are waiting for your appointment. If the childcare is worried about his development, then maybe get a letter from them to take to the Dr with you. If you don't feel like the Dr is listening, get a second opinion - he doesn't even have to know....

What about the Maternal Child Health Nurse? What does she(he!) say??

and most of all as Santosha said.... you are doing the best you can, and investigating is the best thing you can do - no one else will push and advocate for your child except you! So keep asking questions and pushing until you get things looked at! best of luck :hug:

Hi forshelby, how are you going hun? I meant to reply to your post but totally got distracted, sorry hun! I've noticed it's now been 5 months since you posted on here about your DS, how is he going now? Have you had any visits with other docs? My DS is about to turn 3 this week, so a year older than your DS, and he's been diagnosed with a developmental delay at 2. We've been told by a developmental doc to put him into cc twice a week, and since then (he started going when he was 2 years and 4 months) his speech has come a long way (although he's still has a long way to go) and we've also been seeing a speechie every fortnight since January this year. We have also been going to early intervention for the last few weeks which seems to be helping with his speech and social development.

We actually changed his kindy... and he's doing really well I think! He started walking even with the affected foot and I think it has to do with being with carers he can bond with. hes doing all the things he couldnt.. or wouldnt but is still a fussy pants at dinner. Right now we're sitting outside the OR (nervously) waiting while he has his foot surgery so its onwards and upwards from here I hope.

thanks for checking in :)

We actually changed his kindy... and he's doing really well I think! He started walking even with the affected foot and I think it has to do with being with carers he can bond with. hes doing all the things he couldnt.. or wouldnt but is still a fussy pants at dinner. Right now we're sitting outside the OR (nervously) waiting while he has his foot surgery so its onwards and upwards from here I hope.

thanks for checking in :)

I dont have any advice but wanted to wish you and your little man luck for his surgery!

Glad to hear hun, I hope your little guy's surgery went went and he's recovering nicely :)