Ep 117 | Is my child's development delayed?

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We want to get in there as early as possible. We want to hit that zero to three where the child's brain is just exploding and they're learning everything. And if they're showing signs of delays and we can start those early intervention services, we can help that child maybe not have an IEP later as they're entering into school.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambia County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. No parent wants their kids falling through the cracks, but it's hard to know which important milestones your kids should be experiencing and when. And how do you support your child's development without getting lost in the comparison game? My next guest is the marketing and communications specialist for Help Me Grow Escambia, a free resource for early screenings and care coordination. Today she's going to share how the program works and some helpful tips for parents that could put their minds at ease. Advocate for kids, asset for parents, the community-minded Teresa Zerchowski. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Thank you for having me. So, what do you feel like people maybe misunderstand about early intervention screenings?

SPEAKER_00 1:31

One thing is they need to understand that screenings are not the full evaluation. Screenings just let us know that there is more information needed and that we may need to continue to watch what they're doing. So it's not a diagnosis. So a screening, sometimes they look at it as a bad thing. They're worried their child is going to be labeled. But with screenings and early intervention, we want to get in there as early as possible. We want to hit that zero to three where the child's brain is just exploding and they're learning everything. And if they're showing signs of delays and we can start those early intervention services, we can help that child maybe not have an IEP later as they're entering into school. So that label isn't following them.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Oh, wow. I think you just like unpacked so many things there because that was one of the questions that I had about a concern I think a parent would have is well, you know, every parent wants similar things for their kid. They want their kid to thrive and go to university and have a great career and maybe get married one day. And so having a lifelong label feels antagonistic towards those goals.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Sure, sure. But it doesn't have to be. We've seen so many people who've had these early interventions that maybe did have a label later on in life. We had one girl come through Pearl Nelson Center with the art gateway. She was Down syndrome. She went on, had early intervention, moved on, ended up graduating from PSC. She became a licensed esthetician. She's working locally at a spa as well as the YMCA. And that early intervention was crucial to make sure she was getting what she needed early on so she could be successful later. Even though there is still a disability there, it didn't define her. So labels, I mean, nobody wants to be labeled, but they're not always bad. They don't define who you are.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

It sounds like how the label is utilized is the key part. And it was interesting that you said that the assessment is not the diagnosis, because that was also something that I thought, okay, you have the assessment, the, meaning the only one, meaning this is it. You know, like so much pressure. Parents feel so much pressure anyway, the way it is. So to know that this is a preliminary event and it's not a permanent one-time only No, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

It's just a screening. So basically, we're seeing where the child is. Is the child showing signs of delays? Okay, so we are seeing some delays. Let's go ahead and step in and see what resources we can provide. If that child is between the ages of zero and five, we can provide early intervention services. If they're a little bit older, we can connect them with community resources within, you know, Escambia County that can help them get the services and the resources that they need. Our care coordinator customizes all of their plans, helps them get what they need, and you know, they're able to go on and be successful.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

The other thing that you said was this could prevent an IEP. And that's the other thing that I think would be concerning if I were a parent, like, all right, well, okay, let's do early resources, right? That sounds good, that's all nice and good, but I don't want my kid, you know, viewing themselves in a way that is prohibitive of their success. You know, IEPs are meant to be helpful, but I've definitely met at least one little kid that was like, well, I can't because I have an IEP. And I was like, maybe I don't think that's what that means. And so, you know, maybe I'm not the only one. Maybe there are other parents that have had just one-off experiences that kind of paint a negative picture of what an IEP is or what it allows the student to do or not do. So the fact that it's not an automatic is really interesting.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Right. Yeah. We have seen, you know, we know that statistically, one in three kids nationwide who get early intervention services go on to not need an IEP once they enter into kindergarten.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Because they don't struggle.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

They don't struggle. They get everything they need in that first, you know, one to three years or one to five years, which is what we were able to do at Help Me Grow, you know. So they get all those services, their brain is just a sponge absorbing all of it, and they move on and they move past those delays.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

So how does the program work? Like, say there's a listener hearing this right now, and they think, well, I just want to be sure. Sure. You know, what would be the steps that they would go through? Paint a picture of what their experience would be while while they're in that process.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

If they are, you know, watching their child and they're wondering why are they not speaking as quickly as some of their peers, why are they not walking as well as some of their peers in the same age range? What can I do? You know, I think my child's delayed, I think, you know, whatnot. Most of the time, parents are gonna go to their pediatrician first. The pediatrician sometimes will go ahead and do a screening to see where that child is at. Sometimes they're gonna say, you know, let's wait and see until their next appointment. I'm not concerned right now. We would rather do a screening and see where that child is. So for that mom who's pediatrician or someone who said, let's wait and see, I would suggest that they go online. They can go to helpme grow a scambia.com. They can start a free screening on our website. They can request a care coordinator to call them to do a screening on the phone or in person, however, whatever makes them comfortable. Or we are also out at several events throughout the years, and we are doing what we call our books, balls, and blocks, where we do screenings and we have play areas set up that kind of help see where the child is at. We can watch them play, we can interact with the parents, we can get the parents to interact with their kids, show them some things that they can do. So once the parent takes that step, they make the screening, they do the screening, our care coordinator will reach out with the results and discuss the results with them. If that child falls within our ranges, we then can connect them with services. We then can, if the child is between the ages of zero and five, connect them with one of our infant toddler developmental specialists who can provide hands-on, you know, early intervention services with them. Our infant toddler developmental specialist will go to the home where that child is. They can go to a daycare, they can even have the child come to our center and we can do some of that there as well.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Going to the daycare is really interesting. I wouldn't have thought of that, but that makes sense. I mean, a parent is working the child's at daycare. What do these services cost?

SPEAKER_00 7:56

They're all free. So the screenings are free and everything that we provide is free as well. We are funded through the Escambia Children's Trust. And so because thanks to them, we're able to provide all of this free.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

So even the so the assessment's free. That I definitely knew. But the the resources that the kids are being connected to are free as well?

SPEAKER_00 8:15

If they are like our infant toller developmental specialist services that we provide, absolutely. So if it's in-house? In-house, but really we're connecting them with other services, such as if the child's delay is more significant than what we serve, we connect them with early steps, which early steps is the state funded program that will take those children, and that also is free for them.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

So some of the free services, you know, in general, you have to qualify to receive. So is this free for families of all income levels?

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Yes. If you are concerned, it does not matter if you live in a Scambia county and you are a parent who is concerned and your child is between zero and eight. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Can you give me a better idea of what the screenings look like? I know that's not really your area, but the reason I'm asking is because I mean, I'm trying to put parents' minds at ease because we have all gone to the OBGYN office and answered a literal three-question survey about depression to see if the doctor's gonna give us antidepressants. And literally one of the questions is like, do you feel sad sometimes? And that has just jaded all of us, of course. So even though that is not your specific area at this place, can you kind of paint a picture of how involved it is or how many layers there are to it?

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Well, I know that the online screenings they usually take, so there's different ones. We have our ages and stages, social, emotional, that you can take to see kind of where your child is. Each one of those screenings takes up to about 20 minutes. And those are also the screenings that we do in person or over the phone. So your commitment to it is about 20 minutes. After we get those results, you know, if our child comes in and they are getting early intervention with our infant taller developmental specialist, they may do some additional evaluations with them there. But that is truly, from my understanding and from my knowledge, is what we do with our screening process.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

And help me grow Escambia's offices are in the ARC building. No. No. No.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Okay, help me understand how this works. Help me grow is a national program. They also have state programs, and each state program has affiliates. Help Me Grow Scambia is an affiliate of Help Me Grow Florida, which is based in Tallahassee. We are funded through the Escambia Children's Trust, but we are a program of the ARC Gateway. We are housed at the Pearl Nelson Center, which is right down the road from the Arc Gateway. We're right there on Fairfield and 10th.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

So Okay, that's why I got confused because the buildings are close proximity and we are.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

We are, I mean, we walk down to Admin, Admin walks up to us. We are very close, but I think we have a Fairfield address and they have a 10th address. So it's kind of confusing sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Okay, so another point of clarity for me, and I might get this wrong. So you have full permission to correct me, please. The Pearl Nel Nelson Center Art Gateway, when I see those buildings, I think of adults with more severe intellectual disabilities who are being plugged into various work programs that are appropriate for their developmental levels. Is that like you're working with kids who are on that path?

SPEAKER_00 11:31

A lot of people do assume that since we are a program of the arc, that we only serve those with intellectual disabilities. That's just not the case. Pearl Nelson Center does all types of pediatric therapies, pediatric physical therapy, pediatric occupational therapy, pediatric speech therapy. Help me grow. We take children who are showing just slight signs of delay. You know, it's not always, you know, the intellectual disabilities that come through us. Those typically will go to early steps, they'll start there and move on from there.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Okay. That helps a lot. Thank you so much. So without early intervention, what problems could a family face that could be prevented with that kind of intervention?

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Aaron Powell One thing that we see is without early intervention, a lot of times the parent or the caretaker just is unsure of what is going on with their child. You may see this child is acting out, misbehaving. The caretaker may not understand that this child just doesn't know how to communicate. So if you don't know how your child needs to communicate, you may look at their behavior, which is they're just frustrated. They're mad because they can't tell you what they want, right? They can't sit there and say, oh, I need this, I need that. Their communication is off. Parent is like, oh, they're just being bad, they're just being bad. No, they're not. They're just having a hard time, they're frustrated. The parent gets frustrated. So it's so much easier to do these screenings and to get the help you need so you know how to better serve the child, right? You can't help the things that you don't know. So if you don't know how to communicate with a child who's having communication issues, it's gonna be a constant struggle and a constant frustration. That child could exhibit bad behavior. It could affect them if they are in a daycare, it could affect them if they are going into school where the schools are like we can't control them, we don't know what is going on. This child is a bad child. We don't know how to handle it, so we're gonna have to let them go. Early intervention could probably help that child learn how to communicate better, can help the caretaker, the parent, whoever is, you know, with that child on a daily basis, have the skills and the tools that they need to really serve that child better and to understand them.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

What are some examples of milestones that parents can look out for in those early years?

SPEAKER_00 13:46

For two months, you want to see that your child is making sounds other than crying and they react to loud noises. At six months, your child should know familiar people. They should like to look at themselves in a mirror, laugh a little bit. At a year, they should be putting something in a container, like a block inside of a cup. They should wave by, they should be calling, you know, a parent mama or dada, you know, or using other special names that the parent would understand. And these are just a few of the things. And if your kid is not reaching those milestones at those ages, it doesn't necessarily mean that there's a delay. It just means, hey, let's just kind of keep an eye on it, right? And if they are really just not showing it, let's go ahead and screen.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Well, I'm glad you brought that up because that was my next question is how do you keep yourself from doing that comparison game? Because kids are so different. And then if you have more than one child, you know, that poor second child gets compared to we firstborn children. And, you know, we do cast a large shadow. But just even from parent to parent, you know, there there's that comparison temptation to look at Susie's kid and go, oh gosh, they're doing X and Y, and and my kid's not.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Oh, a hundred percent. I, you know, I'm a parent, you know, my child is 18 now, so I've I've had years of looking and comparing. But when she was younger, she was with a child who was her same age. I mean, they were maybe a month apart. This child was running at nine months, and my child was still crawling and maybe pulling up. And I kept asking my pediatrician at every well visit. I'm like, you know, she's not walking. Her friend is walking. Why are they not the same? And he's like, listen, let's just wait. You know, next appointment when she's a year, if she's not walking, we'll do a little bit more, we'll look into it a little bit more. And I know for those next several months, I was panicked. You know, my child's not walking, she's not doing this. Had I known about a program like Help Me Grow, I could have just gone ahead and had her screened. I could have had someone look at her, you know, or someone from Help Me Grow, do the screening, see where we are, and give me a peace of mind. So that's one reason we really push these screenings is, you know, let's not wait. Let's just go ahead and do it. And so she was nine months at that time. Had there been a delay, had we gotten early intervention services, it may have saved her later on if she was going to have those troubles walking, you know, or if she was having trouble communicating at nine months. You know, we want to get them one to three, that or zero to three. That is when that brain is really developing and when we can really make an impact and help that child flourish.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

So on the other end of the spectrum is, you know, parents are busy and they might not even notice. You maybe the parent doesn't have other people in their lives who also have children. And so there's zero comparison and you know, you're just kind of living life day to day, doing your thing. How can a parent increase their awareness? I want to say, maybe the word is also engagement. Just how can they be tuned in a little bit more into what those milestones are and the behaviors that their kid is or isn't exhibiting?

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Oh, that's a great question. Obviously, they can go to their pediatrician and ask these questions. They can always connect with one of our care coordinators who can kind of walk them through that process on that daily basis, you know, really engaging with your child, really getting down on their level, seeing what they're doing, and just watching. And if something looks a little off, go ahead and ask. Go ahead and get in contact with us and let's see, you know, what's going on, if there's anything going on. So just carving out the time is what you're saying. Yep. Spending the time with your child, engaging in activities with them. Coloring is a great one. How are they holding their crayons? You know, just looking in a mirror and watching their facial reactions. Are they looking at you and mimicking you? Um there's several things that you can just do with them like that. Just being around them and watching them and seeing are they interacting with you the way that, you know, maybe you've seen a child on television or at the library do with their parent that's around the same age. Just kind of being observant of the behaviors of the child, I think, is a big thing.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Aaron Powell I could see where that wheel of milestones would also be really helpful because you could take that and like the crayon example I really liked because, oh, well, that's a way I can spend time with my kid while also kind of checking in and seeing where they're observing where they are.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

Yep. 100%.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

This has been a a really fantastic conversation. I'm so glad that we can offer this as a resource for parents, especially to put their mind at ease. You know, we we all know that the resources are there, but it's sometimes it's like we need the point guard to go, okay, go this way. This is the resource that you need now.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Sure. And in our county, we have amazing programs here. You know, Early Steps has been here forever and they've been, you know, fantastic. They do the screenings, but sometimes children just don't meet certain milestones and certain markers to get into early steps. If a child is just below those markers, then what services are there for them? That's where Help Me Crow steps in. We can take those children that don't quite reach those early step markers and we can start providing services to them. We can also provide services to those kids who are with early steps and they're waiting on services. They're on a wait list. We can fill in the gap there. So instead of that child sitting and waiting two, three, maybe four months, I'm not sure what those wait times are right now. Let's go ahead and come over to Help Me Grow. We'll start some, you know, early intervention with the child. And once those services open, they transfer over into them, which is fantastic. We also, because of our grant from the Children's Trust, we're able to offer those early intervention services up to age five. A lot of times a child will go through early steps, which goes up to age three. They'll graduate out of early steps. And if they do not qualify for child find, then they may lose a year or two before they enter into kindergarten. And if they're still having some delays, that's two years without any services. So we had a child come to us recently who had graduated out of early steps, and they were still showing some signs of communication delays, some other maybe emotional, behavioral delay, behavioral concerns. And so when they came to us, our infant dollar developmental specialist started working with that child and they met all of their milestones. They were able to go ahead and get the services they need. And by the time they graduated our program, they were able to enter into kindergarten and things were great. You know, we were able just to continue that process and help that child just get over that little barrier that they may have had to enter in and not have to worry with an IEP or not have to worry with things like that.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

I can really see how that helps them not fall through the cracks. That's the perfect example for that.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Oh, there are so many children within our area that are falling through the cracks. We do know that 13 to 15% of the population has some kind of intellectual developmental disability. We're only finding about 3 or 5% of those children. That means we're missing out on finding about 10% of these kids that are they're just not getting the services they need. We're there to kind of help catch them and make sure that they are getting what they need.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. If you ever need me, I'll come back. Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share.