Fredericksburg Parent

www.FredericksburgParent.NET 15 Does your child… 0-3 months Does your child respond to loud noises, demonstrate a social smile, coo, visually follow an object, and begin to hold head erect? 3-6 months Does your child recognize and respond to his/her name, use vowel like sounds, hold and explore toys and roll over? 6-12 months Does your child respond to his or her name, babble and begin to speak his/her first words such as "ma-ma" and "da-da," sit unsupported, follow simple requests, transfer toys from hand to hand, and wave "bye-bye"? 12-18 months Does your child follow simple commands, begin to name objects, walk alone, scribble with a crayon, finger feed, and begin to drink from a cup? 18-24 months Does your child recognize pictures in a book, point to body parts, begin to use two-word sentences, put shapes in a shape sorter, kick and throw a ball, and eat table foods independently? 2-3 Years Does your child follow 2- to 3-step unre- lated commands; understand and use 2- 4-word sentences to communicate family names, action, common objects, location (i.e., in, out) and attributes (i.e., big, hot, dirty); use pretend play; and draw simple pictures? Sponsored Material Q: PE-ID works with children from birth to 36 months. What if I don't notice any sign of developmental delay in my child until 24 or even 30 months? Is it too late to reach out? Alison Standring: No. It's never too late to reach out. However, depending on the child's age, we may not be the most appropriate resource. Anywhere up to about 32 33 months, it's not too late to reach out to our program. We can assess where the child is developmentally and provide some strategies. But by 33 months, we've lost most of the window for our services, and at that point we would provide a referral to either Child Find in the public school system or outpatient therapy. Q: Do I need to have a certain type of health insurance to access early intervention services? Alison Standring: No one is denied services due to an inability to pay. Medicaid covers our services, and we also bill private insurance when the parent gives us permission to do so. As one of the many services provided in our community by the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board, we also offer a sliding fee scale based on family size and income, with a process in place to allow families to fully demonstrate their ability to pay so that income does not become a barrier to delivering these life-changing services to young children. Q: How can I know whether my child might have a developmental delay and need early intervention services? Alison Standring: Any parent who is wondering about whether their child is meeting developmental milestones can call PE-ID at 540-372-3561 to set up an assessment. Parents can use tools such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's milestone tracker app to learn about how young children typically develop. Q: What happens after a child is 36 months old? Alison Standring: Every child's journey is different, but we walk side-by-side with families to help them transition to the next step. For some children, that will sim- ply be spending time at home or in preschool until they head to kindergarten. For other families, we help refer them to preschool special education for those who may need ongoing services through the school system. Transition does not happen the day before a child turns 3 or the day before discharge. It's an ongoing process to move them into the next most appropriate setting. Q: What is the most rewarding part of your work? Suzanne Haskell: It's that moment when we see the parents light up when they realize that not only did their child just hit a milestone, but the child did it because the parent helped them achieve that growth. A lot of our most rewarding moments come not when we're in the house with the parent, but when the parent chooses to send us a video a week later of what their child has achieved because they've been working on skills with their parent. To learn more, call 540-372-3561 or visit Rappahannockareacsb.org.

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