During your child’s first few years, they grow and meet new milestones at an impressive rate. A developmental screening checks that your child is meeting various expected milestones in their early years, including language and learning development.
Your child’s developmental screening might show they need additional help with learning. Pediatricians Rainilda Valencia, MD, Deepika Saini, MD, FAAP, and our team at Valencia Pediatrics in Victorville, California, explain what you can do if your child’s screening shows they have learning challenges.
In their first 30 months, your child attends several developmental screenings at Valencia Pediatrics. Our team assesses if they’re meeting various physical, communication, learning, and motor milestones.
The skills we check during your child’s screening depend on their age. They can include evaluating whether your child is babbling or talking, following basic instructions, and engaging in creative play.
If our team notes any potential concerns about your child’s development, we create a plan for addressing their needs. By catching concerns at a young age, your child has the best odds for success from early intervention.
Our plan for addressing your child’s learning issues depends on the type and severity of what our team finds. For some issues, our team suggests monitoring your child to see if the issue resolves, which can sometimes include attending additional screenings.
Other times, we refer your child to a specialist for further assessments and diagnosis. The specialist might give your child a diagnosis and further recommendations for addressing any challenges noted.
A diagnosis is a useful tool to ensure your child receives the best interventions to help them succeed. Diagnoses your child might receive include:
Depending on the diagnosis, our team and specialist assessment might recommend regular interventions to help your child. This can include therapies, tutors, medications, and a specialized school or individualized education plan for your child’s school years.
Finding out your child might have a learning ability issue can be intimidating. Our team is here to support you and your child as you navigate their needs.
As a parent, you’re one of your child’s biggest supporters. You can assist them with potential learning challenges in these ways:
Having learning ability issues can make some types of communication, learning, and behavior more frustrating for your child. Being their cheerleader and remaining positive helps them during difficult times.
If our team or other specialists recommend screenings or interventions for your child, give them the best opportunity for success by bringing your child yourself or with another trusted adult. Let us know if you’re having trouble getting to appointments so we can support your family.
As your child gets older, you can teach them age-appropriate tools for their learning ability challenges, as directed by your child’s team. This can include helping them practice at home or take their medication independently.
Having learning ability issues can mean your child has a large team behind them that grows as they get older. Along with our pediatric team at Valencia Pediatrics, your child might work with other pediatric care specialists, teachers, tutors, behavioral supporters, and therapists.
You can help by keeping all of your child’s team members up-to-date on what’s happening in other aspects of their support network. You can also keep us updated with the details and contact information of other members of your child’s team.
If your child has a possible learning ability issue, you can help them have the best outcome possible. Contact us by calling Valencia Pediatrics today to schedule a developmental screening or discuss your child’s learning needs.
