I recently brought my daughter in for her 15 mo checkup. (We did it at 16 months because her former doctor was difficult to schedule with as she sees a very high number of patients because she is wonderful at what she does.) Sadly, our beloved pediatrician went off into her own practice and our insurance didn't allow us to follow her. We opted for the next best and was given another woman. My daughter has no dietary restrictions, allergies and is on no medication so there was no need to find a doc with special skills or anything. Well, my daughter got nursemaids elbow, (it's a slight dislocation of the elbow that can happen from picking them up by their arms, playing, even getting out of the crib wrong and it's apparently very common.) I was a bawling wreck, while my daughter played on the floor with her non hurt arm, as I was assured by a woman with the most fake smile and ingenuine look on her face that she is fine but they would like to give her x-rays just in case. Sure enough all comes back well and she was back to normal in a couple of hours.
A couple weeks later was her wellness checkup and my visit with this doc was very brief so I thought there was no need to book and appointment with anyone else. I should have trusted my gut the first time. We go over all the usual, no allergies and meds, she is walking and she chatters but no real discernible words just yet. At this point I figured at 16 months it was something to work on but I wasn't overly concerned.
The doctor tells me that it appears she is just fine and will be one of those children that just explodes into language since she learned a little sign language, she shows us what she wants and even lets us know when she is ready for bed. (Yes, my toddler puts herself to bed most of the time, be jealous.) Then she informs me that she likes to be conservative with medicine and is going to refer me to a specialist that is going to run her through a bunch of tests and cover all of her development, you know, just to be sure.
Few things, just over a year is not nearly time to start worrying about delay in development when it comes to talking. Two, I do not believe a battery of testing over this matter will lead to anything different down the road. I really believe that large amounts of testing and 'precautionary measures' will be requested by this doctor. Three, the fake smile and insincere expression. I'm sorry how am I supposed to trust you if you are going to pretend to be friendly.
I had a little sister with special needs her whole life, my best friends daughter had some complications during birth and has had to undergo therapies of all kinds and may have to for a long time. The fact that my perfectly healthy daughter is being recommended for some of the same therapies absolutely baffles me. Please don't misunderstand me. I will never deny my daughter of services she needs. If she was 2 and not speaking then this would be a very different post or if she didn't seem to hear me or understand what is going on around her then I would completely understand the cause for concern.
This whole event has left me shaken a bit. My husband and I decided we will work closely with her on language for another month and then reconsider her referral after, of course, we get a new pediatrician and a second opinion. I hate that she was able to make me question my own parenting decisions. It makes me angry that as a society we have so little faith in each other as parents, as care givers, or even just as people. Kids can't explore their own towns anymore. We are drugging kids up and insanely young ages. (Don't dare tell me that it's necessary either. I'm from the Rx generation and they tried putting me on Ritalin in the 4th grade. My mother refused and it turns out... she was right. I didn't need it and if it had been given to me I never would have learned to deal with social anxiety, stress or even just daily life because the drugs would have done it for me.) It makes me sad to wonder what will happen when my daughter gets married and has a baby. Will she be forced to raise her children by a pamphlet given in the delivery room and will be arrested if she doesn't follow exactly? Yikes!
I shall step down off my soap box I suppose but feel free to leave your two cents. Would you take your child to be tested this early or would you give it some time?
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