Early Intervention - Levittown,PA

Dear Aimie ...

I definitely believe that you should at least have your son evaluated..... I am a mother of 2 children I have a typical 14 yr old boy & a 13 month old with down syndrome. We had him evaluatesd at 1 month old early intervention is Key ... he sat at 5 .5 months started trying to crawl t 1o mionths & crawled at one year..... he is now cruising furniture & trying to take steps .. you are definitely entitled to the services since your son was in the nic u.... the # you want to call is

Hi my name is D. and I have 3 children, my youngest who is now 2 was 7 1/2 weeks premature. The NICU never gave us any help with what to do if he was delayed either. But we did finally get some help. He has a nurse that comes out now every couple of months but when he was a baby it was monthly. He never was delayed. But my nephew was and they sent out a physical therapist to help him 2 times a week and he wasn't premature. The name of the place is ALLIANCE FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS and their number is ###-###-####. The nurses there are really great and our nurse is like a close friend or part of the family now. I hope they can help and good luck. I am sure he will be fine.

Hi A.,

I got the information for the EI program in Montgomery county for my son thru his pediatrician. I don't know if it will be any differnt in Bucks County but I had to HOUND the EI program for an appt. I went online and printed the info, filled out all the paperwork (13 pages) and mailed it in instead of waiting for them to send me the info packet. It took almost 5 weeks to get an appt. That was after I had called to make sure they received the information (I called 3 weeks in a row and then resorted to email until I got a response) Even after that I still had to wait almost 2 months because that was the earliest appt they had available.

I just did a search on Yahoo for Bucks County Early Intervention Program and came up with this website.

http://www.barcprograms.org/early.htm

If it isn't what you need you might also try the buckscounty.org and see if they have anything that might link you to them.

HTH!
A.

Have you asked your docotor for the number? You should be able to google it. I used Mont. But that was 8years ago and I started threw Easter Seals.

Sometimes family memebers Don't want to ammitt that some children tust need that little more help in life. You are the mother and you know what is best for your child.

your ped should be able to give you contact information. I know in my area DART deals with childing underb 2 yrs 9 mth. after that they go through the local school district, becuase EI has preschool classes at 3 yrs of age. I got my son into the EI class in December but he turned 3 in Jan. so i would check with your ped. My ped gave me the number for our DART Project but when i called they transfered me to the school district program. Good Luck

Hi A.,
I understand your concerns, but you have to realize that your son being born 8 weeks early actually makes him 8 weeks younger than his birthday says. The 8 weeks he was early translates to 8 weeks he should have been in-eutero. So developmentally he should be doing what a 4 month old is doing, which does not include sitting and may or may not include rolling! My Dr. said because of back sleeping children are rolling later since it is harder to roll back to belly then it was from belly to back! I would keep your eye on him, but remember to allow him 2 months leeway for a while!
Oh and do not listen to family. You are the Mom and you KNOW your child. If your GUT says something is wrong go with it!
Good Luck!
D.

Does the NICU at the hospital where your son was born have a follow-up program? My oldest was a 32 weeker too and Bryn Mawr does follow up with the babies. Our ped at the time blew up off when I brought up concerns about delays in gross motor development. When I took her back to the NICU they evaluated her and suggested early intervention.

My daughter received occupational therapy and made great progress. We started her at 7 months because it took about a month to get everything in place. At eight months, she was not sitting, rolling or crawling but by 13 months she was walking. She is now 8 years old and still struggles with her fine and gross motor development but is doing great in other areas.

I wouldn't worry about what other people think. In the end, your son is most important and you are his best advocate. I had some people in my family very critical of my when my daughter was little because they thought I was "pushing" her too. Bottom line, I didn't want to look back in the future and say, "If only I had done more." One thing I have learned is that if you think people in your family are not going to support your decision, then be selective about what you tell them about your son.

Good luck,
Barbara

###-###-#### - this is the mental health and early intervention number. He must have at least a 25% delay to qualify. Best of luck - if you get the services, I'm sure you will be happy with them. They are very professional and helped my youngest daughter with significant issues.

K.

Hi Amiee,First let me congratulate you on being a first time mom.I haven't personally had any experience with this problem, but I did have a close friend who delivered her child 2 months early.Her child was slow with the motors skills as well.She took her concerns to her pediatrition and he didn't seem to concerned.He was healthy otherwise.She said that because her son was a premmie that he would develop later,So maybe your son will roll at 8 months instead of 6.You didn't mention whether your dr.was concerned or not.Maybe to put your mind at ease it wouldn't hurt to have your son evaluated.Also,relay on your intuition.If you feel something is really wrong,don't take no for an answer.My friends son is fine and growing like a weed.Hope that helps.Let me know if you have any other questions.D.
P.S. my husband did not walk till he was two years old.My mother in law said there was nothing wrong with him...he was just a little too heavy and prefered crawling...lol.
take care.

Hi A.,

Quick question,were you on any medications to stop premature labor such as betamethasone,dexamethasone, or Brethine? I'm asking because I had 2 premature births so early that my two babies did not survive, so with my third pregnancy my OB prescribed me to take Brethine for a few months, then when I still went in labor at 35 weeks, the hospitol gave me Magnesium sulfate which made me feel horrible, I wanted to die, anyways i was blessed with a healthy baby boy. when we came home i noticed my son was acting just like yours and I would talk about it to friends, family, and my son's PE and everyone said the same thing, so I let it go. Now he is 10 years old and I found out that he has a learning dissabilty and he is 2 years behind. He has been classified as multiply disabled. So don't wait or listen to anyone who tells you to ignore it, follow your mommy instincts, if I hear or see of any Dr's in your area for you to check out, I will will let you know.

Call your ped. office, they should be able to give it to you over the phone.
I don't have it handy, but if you look in the phone book try Leanpe Valley Foundation, or Penn Foundation- that should get you started.

It may not be anything to worry about, some babies don't sit up until after 6 months & crawl very late, but it is best to have him evaluted.
good luck!