Anyone with experience with EI?

[dcrunnergirl]

I have some experience with late crawling and EI.

DS didn't crawl until 10 months. He did roll a ton, but didn't crawl crawl until then, and the pedi was never worried. Has your LO been on the late end of the spectrum for most milestones? I've discovered that my kids are just late bloomers in general, especially DS, and hit all their milestones quite a while after a lot of their peers.

As for EI, we were referred when my LOs were 15 months and had no words at all. The process has been wonderful, and now at 22 months, they are talking up a storm. I'm not sure if it's the therapy that has helped or just time, but EI has been great for us b/c it's served as a sounding board for me for my concerns and given me activities to do with the LOs so I felt like I was teaching them what they needed to know.

[ijack]

DD1 qualified automatically because of her birth weight and was in it from birth - 2. The little girl I used to nanny for was also in it for a number of years. It's really a wonderful program that can definitely help both you and her. IME they do a good job of teaching you and her how to help her learn some things that she might not be interested in picking up on her own. If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to try and answer them

[twinsinmd]

DS has Torticollis so he has been in EI since 2 months old. He also has a helmet as well-the PT was actually the one who pushed it. While he doesn't seem to be behind gross motor wise, we see them twice a month. I work in the same county, and I love having them come. I like knowing that I have someone to bounce questions off of and make sure they are developing appropriately. They check in with both DD and DS because they were preemies, and they have been AWESOME. I thought they actually might discharge him at his 6 month review, but we are going to keep going.

Even as a SLP, it's been nice to have the suggestions because I don't normally work with kids this little.

[wordtothewise]

My baby was a preemie and qualified for EI based on the length of his hospital stay. It has been a good experience for us. The PTs have given us exercises, etc., to help with gross motor development/support/etc. Where we live, you either need an automatic qualification (like hospital stay) or need to be 25% delayed in a particular area. I would encourage you to get her evaluated and see what they have to say.

[pierogigirl]

I had a speech eval for DS1 at 12 mos. They did several kinds of evaluations, not just speech, in our home. It was actually very interesting to watch. I think EI is great and better to start early rather than wait until the gap is more pronounced. Even if she doesn't qualify, they'll probably give you a bunch of things you can try on your own.

[thatgirl2478]

If DD doesn't learn more words, she will probably be receiving a speech eval after her 18 mo appointment. Part of me was upset because I saw it as a 'failure' on my part - but I'm starting to realize that the fact that we can possibly get help BEFORE it becomes a problem is a good thing.

DD didn't start 'crawling' until just before 9 mo - and didn't go from laying to sitting on her own until 10ish months. She didn't pull up until just before 12 mo, and didn't cruise until 13 or so. She's only just now (at almost 18 mo) walking as her primary choice of getting from point a to point b.

[dcrunnergirl]

Jul 17, 2012 16:28:41 GMT -5 toriwc said:

I googled EI and took a milestone questionaire thing I found, and DD is not doing 4 out of five things that they say babies should be doing by 9 months, and she's already 10.

My kids have rarely done things on schedule according to those charts. Like I think I said, they're just late bloomers. EI has really helped me understand that rather than thinking OMGSomethingismajorlywrongcallthepedinow like I used to feel.

[statlerwaldorf]

My family member's daughter had some nerve damage and a broken collar bone during delivery and qualified for services under EI. She had someone that would come to her house and help her with her physical therapy. They also taught her activities to do with her. The physical therapy was always age appropriate and fun for the baby. It was just playing to her. Eventually she started going to some program for a few hours a day where they addressed her delays and tended to her physical issues. She speaks very highly of the program.

[mssaint]

We did an EI evaluation when we were worried that LO's weight issues were due to sensory issues. It was wonderful.

We didn't qualify for services (which is good!) but the OT gave us wonderful advice and followed up with lots of literature. I think so highly of this program and have such respect for the people who choose this as their career--they are really special!!

[SusanBAnthony]

Yes.

I had EI eval DS at 7 months because he seemed gross-motor delayed to me, but he passed. Meanwhile he did private PT at 9 months for tortocollis, and they also worked on sitting/crawling transitions with him.

Then EI did a re-check at 11 months, and at that point his percentiles had dropped and he qualified. We did OT and then speech through EI.

Now at 4.5 he had a SpEd PT eval and qualified for services. We are doing private PT over the summer and he will get it through his SpEd preschool in the fall (buts it is only maybe 20 min once a week, so we will likely do private as well, as long as our insurance will cover it).

[SusanBAnthony]

To clarify above, DS did get a lot out of EI, but obviously he has continued to have issues (he gets ST, OT, and PT at school and we suspect ASD). I think EI has been great, and I am so so so glad we did it. At the time we thought NBD he is a little late, lots of boys are behind, he'll catch up. Well, obviously he hasn't, and I cannot imagine how horrible I would feel if I hadn't been getting him help this whole time. I have several mom friends who buried their heads in the sand for 3+ years, with everyone around them saying they needed to do an eval- don't be like that!

[Deleted]

Just wanted to add another positive experience here.

[whattheheck]

I had a great experience with EI! I had my son evaluated b/c he was a late walker and talker, and he didn't qualify for services but I left with a whole list of exercises, etc., to do to help him catch up (he was late, but not late enough). I had my daughter evaluated and she qualified for speech and PT and eventually a "gross motor skills development group class" (really just a mommy and me class at the local gymnastics place but since I had all he info from the PT I was able to tailor it to her a little bit). By the time DD aged out of EI she was testing above her age. LOVE EI!

I always thought "What do I have to lose?" when I considered EI evaluations, and when DD received services and made such great improvements, I saw what I could have lost by NOT calling.