my child has developmental milestone delay. she is 20 months old, but has mental age of 13. will she be normal

Question

will she be able to pick up with her peer groups. is she mentally retarded? she is also very weak physically. not yet started walking independantly. undergoing physiotherapy for the same

Answer 1

Hi, I happen to work in special education with disabled kids and I also have a family member who is developmentally delayed.You know it all depends on how your daughter progresses. Is she learning new skills? Besides physical therapy is she getting occupational therapy and other therapies to help her aqcuire skills that she needs to catch up on? My family member is 6 years old but is at the level of a 9-12 month old. She scores at different levels for different skills and she has just now learned how to walk and is still in diapers and doesn't talk.Your daughter doesn't sound too bad off if you don't mind me saying so.You also have to remember that some kids can be super smart and still be physically disabled...such as not being able to walk as well as others. She may catch up just fine with a lot of work from you and her therapists.Make sure and do all the exercises they prescribe for her and keep up with everything and remember to fight fight fight for her rights!Also engage her in as much activities everyday as you possibly can.Read to her,do arts and crafts,teach her to play with different things.Provide lots of sensory experiences(playdough,paint,sand,rice,shaving cream different textures)and lots of physical movement such as swinging,supported standing(most important if she isn't standing).Talk to your therapist about getting your daughter a gait trainer and a stander to use everyday at home.These will really help her.There are also tons of services and websites out there where you can get loads of support.Does your daughter have an official diagnosis yet?Also depending on where you are located there are bound to be services that you can utilize in your area that will help you out in different areas from therapy to equipment loans to babysitting services (called respite care for disabled children). Also if your daughter isn't talking well yet...get her speech therapy asap. Another thing is when she does start preschool make sure you keep up with everything they are doing and make sure to check up on the teacher and aides and the school by doing periodic walk ins.Any parent can show up at their child's classroom without having to call or have permission.If your daughter's teacher tells you differently...don't fall for it!!! Ive seen many teachers who aren't that great that try and tell parents that they have to have permission to come and see their child with special needs at school. That is rubbish!I have a lot of information for you but I will give you my email instead of writing it all here. I have a wealth of information including books to read, good hospitals, good websites and services and good web groups for you to join and meet other parents and professionals who deal with children like your daughter. Good luck and feel free to contact me anytime. I check my email everyday!

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Answer 2

I don't know exactly what developmental milestone delay is but it sounds like something made up by a professor of some useless soft science so he could sell a book or get recognition somewhere. Any way stay with your child, give her love and help her to interact with the family and other children. No matter what her mental condition turns out to be, she will grow in to a good person if you give her the love and room to grow. It is a little known fact that Einstein did not learn to walk until he was 4 and talk until he was 7. There are no guarantees in this life, and at 20 months it's a little early to be determining her future. All you can do is be there for her(as you would regardless of circumstances) and pray that she will be alright. If it does turn out later that she is mentally challenged I would recommend against special classes. These types of schools and classes will highlight and encourage failures, which will subsequently be blamed on the "disorder". Be a good mom to her, and she will be a loving daughter to you. It is not always easy to deal with things like this but these times of trial, are indeed what make life beautiful. I sincerely hope that everything turns out ok for you and your daughter.

Answer 3

Was she born with some developmental problems or born too early? If she was born, say at 36 weeks, then there could be some type of developmental issues. Did something happen during the pregnancy that could have caused this? I would go see the pediatrician and get a referral to a specialist for some testing to see if there is something wrong mentally to cause her delays.

Now, there could other personal factors, that are harmless, but causing the delays. Do you carry her around, or did when she needed to be on the floor and learning to pick up things, pull herself up to stand, crawling. Maybe that could have something to do with that reason. Is she an only child, and has other siblings to do her talking for her or do you get what she needs before she has to say it? Do you read, talk and interact with her so her hearing and speaking skills were developed properly.

If there is nothing wrong there, then it could just be your child. I would be looking for a specialist for her soon so she doesn't get any more behind the other kids and she might be able to get ahead.

Answer 4

first of all ....sweety.....don't worry, we all develop at different stages in our lives. There is an estimate that we all live by , but doesn't necessarily mean when we turn 18 months we should all know how to say 5 words. If you do things with her like brain stimulating things....mainly colors and have a tone of voice for each color she will learn to identify feelings to events and emotions. If you start her with all these doctors trying different things on her , she may become confused. It takes time to learn different things. That why we learn math the whole year through in school, no one person could learn everything in one month. I have a friend who's daughter didn't walk till 17 months and did not talk till 2 1/2 years old... now she is captain of her debating team....which she started in the sixth grade...because she thought teachers had to much say.hs ewould always want to debte there reasons for the actions they took in histroy....and she doesn't run track but is, the Captain of drill team... it takes time....some Genius children did n't have normal function till later in age....because they haven't quite figured out how what they were interested in worked. they had a need to know.. If you didn't have any problems during pregnancy,,, then you should be fine... Give her 4 colors in solid block form....the one she wants the most, give it a name. then remove it....she will learn to ask for it... good luck Honey...as mothers around the world...we worry....do not fear.....

Answer 5

She might be slow but then again she may grow out of it and catch up to everyone..But seeing a doctor is your best bet!!
My daughter had a stroke at 2 weeks old,,they said she would be in an institution the rest of her life..WRONG>!!!! She was affected from the stroke with her left eye going blind..But she is in her 20's and has a very fast paced job where she deals with the public and money 40 hrs a week..So you never know