As parents, we are our child’s first teachers. They depend on us for their basic needs, and we are responsible for their earliest learning. They learn so much from watching and interacting with us, and we know them better than anyone else does. There is so much information available about what developmental milestones our children should be reaching and at times, it can be difficult to navigate.
At 18 months, my son did not make sounds or speak as other typical children his age. I had a discussion with my son’s pediatrician, and we decided together to continue trying to engage with him and build his skills, but to evaluate him again at his 2-year-old checkup.
During his well-child check 6 months later, we decided to accept the referral to the Birth to Three program. Over the course of the next year, staff worked with my son and helped make a smooth transition to speech therapy at school when he turned 3-years-old.
My son is now almost four years old, and he has made amazing improvement, thanks to all the support I received. He is still attending speech therapy, my husband and I do activities at home, and he attends a preschool program during the day. Being able to see the progress over the last two years has been incredibly reassuring, and I can see how happy it makes my son to be able to communicate with us. Through the relationship with my son’s pediatrician, we were able to make the right connections early on in my son’s life.
I am passionate about connecting parents and guardians to programming early because of the experiences I had with my son. I now have two children, and both have participated in developmental screening events. This gives my husband and me peace of mind that our children are developing appropriately, as well as having another resource to ask questions.
The Sheboygan County Community Partnership for Children coordinated the first developmental screening event in Sheboygan this past August, at no cost to the parents or guardians. When the family attends the event, they check-in and fill out a simple questionnaire about their child’s development. They are then introduced to a staff member who goes through the information that the family filled out, answers any additional questions the family may have, and connects the family to community resources.
The goal of this event is to give parents and guardians another opportunity to discuss their child’s development and to connect them to amazing resources that are available to all families in Sheboygan County.
The next developmental screening day will be on October 13 at the Generations building in Plymouth. If you would like more information about the event or register, call the Family Resource Center at 920- 892-6706.
We all want to do the best for our children, but sometimes we are not sure where to turn for support. Developmental screening events are there to be a part of every family’s support system.
Also, please don’t forget to attend Taste Sheboygan this Thursday evening from 4-10 p.m. in Fountain Park, Sheboygan.
Written by Corrissa Frank Sheboygan County Community Partnership for Children Coordinator corrissa@uwofsc.org920-458-3425