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Every child grows, learns, and develops at a different pace. It is not uncommon even for siblings to mature at different rates than one another. However, in some cases, a child may be taking much longer than normal to reach certain milestones. They may not even reach them at all. Chances are the child has a developmental delay.
This type of situation with an infant can cause excess worry and stress in a family. If you’ve noticed your little one is having trouble with certain gross or motor skills that other children their age have long surpassed, it might be time to take them to a pediatric physical therapist.
How To Know If Your Child Needs Early Intervention Therapy
Early intervention therapy can assist children from birth to three years of age with a plethora of conditions and developmental delays. According to NYU Langone Health, these are some of the developmental delays your child could have that may result in a need for early intervention therapy:
Cognitive delay
Presents itself as a learning difficulty, or problem with intellectual functioning.
Motor delay
Affects your child’s ability to coordinate large muscle groups, such as those in the arms and legs, and smaller muscles, such as those in the hands. In infants there may be problems with crawling and rolling over.
Social, emotional, or behavioral delays
Your child may have difficulty with recognizing social cues and starting a conversation. They may also have a hard time dealing with frustration or accepting changes in their environment. These can also present themselves as autism, or ADHD (attention deficit hyper-activity disorder.)
Speech delay
Your child might have trouble communicating with you or other people, or problems understanding words or concepts.
How Occupational and Speech Therapy Can Help With Developmental Delays
Occupational and speech therapy can assist with the social, emotional, adaptive, cognitive, communication, and physical development of infants and toddlers. The ultimate goal of early intervention therapy is to enhance a parent or family’s ability to meet the needs of their infants and toddlers.
Here at Southern Pediatric Therapy Clinic our speech and occupational therapists will use specific skills and techniques to help your infant or toddler achieve motor and language skills.
Occupational and speech therapy for early intervention can help your toddler or infant:
- Learn to sit up so that they can play with their toys
- Learn to crawl
- Improve their balance so they have an easier time walking
- Communicate their needs and wants
- Become stronger and more fit
- Learn to pick up and hold items
- Play with many different size toys
Contact Southern Pediatric Therapy Clinic Today
Early intervention speech and occupational therapy can help children from birth to three years of age who have difficulties resulting in a developmental delay or a limited functional ability. In order to determine whether or not your child is a good fit for this kind of therapy, multiple assessments and evaluations will be completed by our licensed speech and occupational therapists here at Southern Pediatric Therapy Clinic.
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