Another Question About Our 2 Year Old & Child Milestones

Hi there,
It sounds like my son is just about the same age as yours (born in May 2007). He only recently became interested in looking at himself in the mirror, but then again, I never pushed it so I'm not sure if he would have recognized himself earlier. Just this week he is saying his name when he looks in the mirror. It sounds like your son is making progress since he no longer needs the speech services! This is good! I'm sure his issues have been challenging, but hang in there! it's great that he is getting EI!

As you know each child develops at his own speed. It sounds like EI has identified some areas that he may have some delays. As for the playing or not - kids this age only "parallel play" with other kids there age. Adults are able to better engage them than another toddler would be. I would think that by 27 months he could identify himself in the mirror - if not by saying his own name, at least by behaving as if he knows who he is looking at. My daughter has a big mirror hanging on the wall next to her changing table. You may want to try this. I find that it helps with reviewing body parts - where is "Evan's ears...." where is mama? where is "Evan"?.....

As a Social Worker, I would strongly encourage you to continue with the early intervention and take every opportunity you can to engage him on a personal level ie, rolling a ball to him and when he gets it say "good job. Evan got the ball! you got the ball" So that he keeps hearing that he IS Evan.

I hope this helps.

I work with a lot of kids and have seen so many extremes. The norm is to begin noticing yourself in the mirror around 18 months. But, the fact that your son does not yet, could be nothing. I think you are being very proactice with using EI services. They are so important in the lives of so many kids. Sometimes EI can spot things early and "fix" them by the time school starts. I also wouldn't be too concerned with him playing alone. He is still in the norm to play alongside his peers rather than with them.

As I've said, I have known some extremes. I knew one kid that did not walk until 22 months...he was just scared to fall. I know one man that did not speak until he was 3 years old and then it was nonsense words....he is now a medical surgen. Just keep being proactive at this young age and I am sure you will be able to handle whatever the outcome is.

I agree with other posters that you should look into additional services. I work for EI and it's very frustrating for us to have kids not qualify when they are clearly delayed - it's just what we have to do based on our funding situation. Many speech therapists connected with hospitals take private insurance - I know Beverly Hospital and North Shore Children's Hospital both do. The extra services can't hurt! You may have to fight with the insurance company, I will say, because they want EI to do everything, but many families have been successful in obtaining speech outside of EI, in addition to whatever EI is offering.

Your son sounds lik he experienced some of the same problems of my son.
Since you said that your son was delayed in speech he could know the answers but just not understand how to answer. My son hated getting washed and went through a phase that he hated baths. I use to take a bin fill it with water and let him be in his diaper and play in the water(sneak in a few drops of babysoap) and he gets clean.
My son was more interested in playing by himself at that age too and dong his own thing than playig with other kids. Which is normal.
I don't want to scare you but my son is on the autism spectrum, but a lot of the issues he had at 2 he grew out of by the time he was 4. Some things are a struggle(brushing teeth) but over all he is a different child than he was at that age. I'ld take what you learned from the EI evaluation and disscuss it with his doctor and even get an evaluation through chldrens hospital.
Good luck

Hi,

I am sorry to hear your son no longer qualifies for speech. That is awful they are cut and dry like that about the cutoff when he is still behind. Getting services can be SO frustrating. We have been through it with our son as well.
I would highly suggest getting an evaluation done privately. Look for Anne Milanese at CCMC for a developmental evaluation. Another option is Marianne Barton at UConn. We have had our son evaluated by both and felt Dr. Barton to be more thorough, but she was expensive and does not take most insurances. Dr. Milanese was covered by our insurance. There are big wait lists at both, but our EI group was able to get us in to see Dr. Milanese with very little wait. Ask your EI coordinator if they can help.

You will get more/better info regarding your son's milestones and what is appropriate therapy for him if you seek an outside eval. As you approach age 3 this is especially important as he will transition into the public school system for therapies and having outside evals always helps to ensure he continues therapy.

My son was alot like your son at that age as well- not wanting to socialize with kids his age, not recognizing himself or not saying his name. The play stuff can be normal, but could also be part of larger issues- it's different for every child. I don't mean to scare you or insinuate anything about your son, but my son with similar issues is on the autism spectrum. He is high functioning, but he is on the spectrum. That said, he has made amazing progress since he was 2 years old. He will be 4 next month and is talking up a storm now and playing better (not totally up to average age, but better) with his peers.

It sounds like your EI team has concerns but is not meeting his needs. If they are concerned with such things, they should be encouraging OT or other therapy with an EI associate. You should push for more speech as well if he is still scoring 7 months behind. When we hit this point with out son and he was being denied services, I found out that they will not provide more than 3 hours per week of anything unless a child has an outside eval and diagnosis of some type. Ask about that- they might not be telling you if there is a rule like that.

Seek an outside eval to get better answers and if you have trouble getting an appointment, ask your EI team if they can help get him in anywhere.

Hang in there... it can be frustrating with kids this age trying to understand the milestones and trying to navigate the system for therapies.