Any thoughts?

[rosarosa37]

i have an 18 month old son and for the last few months he has seen firstly a physio and now a physio tech instructor. Basically he was very late to sit up (about 14 or 15 months) but crawled at 12 months. He now crawls well but for a long time dragged one side (left) and the instructor says he has a weakness on his left side. He can pull himself up against the sofa etc but cannot put his feet flat. He has not started cruising at all yet :/ No sign of weightbearing as he is on tiptoes and leans at an angle against the sofa. No standing alone. Now he is going to be given gaiters which he has to wear a couple of times a day for say 30 mins or so. I've been told there is nothing physically wrong with him as far as we can see. I just feel like it's going on forever and it all feels very depressing tbh.

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[rosarosa37]

The instructor did ask about if he has any sensory issues as some of their *babies* who are delayed have these. He hates wearing socks and shoes and is a VERY picky eater. I also have nonverbal learning disorder and so does his older sister. Which is also a deficiency of the right hemisphere. But at 18 months i'm not sure i want to speculate...

[estherderu]

dear Rosa,

Not being from the UK I must say that I had no idea what a physio tech instructor is. Have looked around a bit and it seems to be a name for people with a variety of expertise and background knowledge working with physio´s.
I have to presume that your PTinstructor will have knowledge (education) of paediatric problems otherwise he/she would not be helping you.

Here are some of my thoughts on the subject after having read your short description.

- In my opinion, babies and young children should only be treated by people that have been specially trained, such as paediatric physiotherapists.

- we therapists are not medical doctors and we can only assess and diagnose our own physiotherapeutic diagnosis, not a medical one.

- children develop with an enormous variability in acquiring milestones. The order of the milestones is not as important as the observation of variability in movement. Does your therapists know about the work of Mijna Hadders Algra and Karen Adolphs Karen E. Adolph > Home?

I can also recomment the following website About skillsforaction.com | skillsforaction.com.

Children learn from experimenting and repeating new moves (a lot). By putting them into different environments and asking them to do things by themselves you are basically giving them time and opportunity to practice and acquire new skills.

on a mum/child/and personal level...
- if you worry about your child, he will feel this and react

- if you feel something is wrong, I would suggest you pursue the matter. I have found that parents are very often right.

You mention having a learning disorder, so do many others. It does not have to affect your feelings. Trust you feelings in this matter.

As a parent you have the right to ask us professionals to help you.

Stupid questions do not exist...

Keep asking untill you are satisfied you have been heard.

About the sensory problems mentioned...
a therapist trained in Sensory Intergration (Ayres) might be able to help.
In our country therapists with a SI training are nearly always (paediatric) occupational therapists and sometimes paeditric physio's.
I presume it will be the same in the UK. They are able to assess sensory problems and give suggestions on how to handle your child if there is a sensory issue.

kind regards

Esther

[Bobby Nabeyama]

You need to have your child examined by a pediatric neurologist and pediatric physical therapist immediately.

[estherderu]

Dear Rosa,

Bobby says it straight out....and he and I agree in our thinking. Your son needs to be treated by a specialized paediatric physiotherapist/physical therapist.

I must say I presumed you had seen a child neurologist or paediatrician prior to starting treatment.

Esther