My Second Journey with Early Intervention

 As some of you know I am a mother to 3 awesome boys ages 11,4,and 1 years old. I started my first journey with my son Cole when he was 26 months old, He is now 4 years old and progressing every day. Although I noticed signs way before his second birth, I didn’t really know where or how to get early intervention started. I started with his pediatrician and did a wait and see approach and by 1 1/2 he was referred to speech and audiology. Then I found out about our local Regional Center which I didn’t even know that Regional Center even existed. I Contacted the Regional Center and made an appointment for a coordinator to come and assess for a development delay. The Regional Center found that he was eligible for services. Within 3 months of  services Kaiser and Regional Center Diagnosed Cole with Autism. Cole Started with only 12 hours a month and it stayed at 12 hours a month. I tried getting more hours but by the time the hours were approved the school district took over.

I started noticing some signs  with my 1 year old Evan soon to be 2 March 5, around 16 months. I went to https://www.m-chat.org/The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) is a validated developmental screening tool for toddlers between 16 and 30 months of age. It is designed to identify children who may benefit from a more thorough developmental and autism evaluation. Its super easy to do. When done it gives you a score and you are able to print it and show it to your child’s pediatrician and also your local Regional Center. Also there was the ASQ-3(Ages and Stages Questionnaire) http://agesandstages.com/ which I was very familiar with from over 15 years of working in diffrent child Development programs, but never thought to conduct one for my own children. Well you live and you learn.This time around I was so very prepared.

According to my own assessment and Regional assessment, Evan was also eligible for services. Evan had been diagnosed with sensory integration disorder and a speech delay. He has not been diagnosed with having autism. He has an assessment set for the end of February.Evan is currently receiving over 30 hours of early intervention at Casa Colina. Casa Colina has a very good early start program. I wish I knew about this program earlier,Cole would have definitely attended their program, but I was told he needed an autism diagnosis for that type of program,which was so terribly wrong.

I was not told about Casa Colina’s program. I research and looked for different programs myself and brought it to Evans Regional Coordinator’s attention and we worked as a team to have the program approved. Dont be afraid to look outside of the box  for other services and program’s. Every State should have an early intervention program. Below are some of the step to see if your child is eligible for services. Just Click on the picture to make it larger.

Please share and leave a comment to share your experiences or even if you have questions !