Signs to Look For

Is your child struggling to connect, move, or communicate?

Every child develops at their own pace and identifying minor hurdles early allows us to provide the right tools at the right time. Early intervention is key to long term progress. If two or more of the below challenges resonate with your experience at home or school, it may be time for a formal evaluation by one of our Occupational or Speech Therapists, or a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

Challenges Related to Sensory Processing or Modulation

Craves movement and/or constant motion; is impulsive in actions
Has difficulty maintaining attention, staying focused, and is easily distracted
Avoids getting messy or smears messy textures all over self
Takes risks and lacks safety awareness, or fears climbing, swinging, moving fast, roughhousing, etc.
Is sensitive to noise, smells, food textures, touch (e.g., tags in clothing or brushing teeth)
Purposefully bumps into others / objects or falls onto the floor; is aggressive with peers, etc.
Has decreased awareness of clothing on their body, i.e., leaves shirt half out, pants tucked in socks, etc.

Challenges Related to Gross Motor / Postural Skills

Has delayed developmental milestones, e.g., rolling, sitting, crawling, or walking, etc.
Seems weaker than their peers, i.e., fatigues easily
Is clumsy, i.e., falls frequently or has poor balance
Avoids playground equipment and prefers playing in the sandbox or with a group of children on the side
Has / had difficulty learning how to ride a bike, skip, or jump rope
Has difficulty or avoids playing team sports that require coordination

Challenges Related to Fine, Visual Motor, and/or Perceptual Skills

Avoids or dislikes writing, drawing, arts and crafts; has difficulty drawing shapes
Presents with messy drawing and handwriting; holds the pencil incorrectly
Has difficulty with cutting or coloring within given lines and using utensils
Has difficulty with buttons, snaps, zippers, tying shoes
Has difficulty learning the alphabet and letters
Has difficulty putting together puzzles

Challenges Relating to Oral Motor / Feeding Skills

Has difficulty learning to latch on / breastfeed or transition to solid foods
Is a picky or messy eater
Avoids eating certain textures
Drools
Eats too fast or overstuffs mouth
Avoids hard-to-chew foods, i.e., meat
Chews with mouth open

Challenges Related to Social Skills

Has difficulty making and keeping friends
Has difficulty reading social cues
Has difficulty initiating and maintaining conversations with peers; becomes overly silly or shuts down
Has difficulty playing games, losing or working as a team
Has difficulty sharing, taking turns, or waiting in line
Has poor eye contact and ability to stay attentive during games / conversations, etc.
Has poor problem-solving or conflict resolution skills with peers

Challenges Relating to Underlying Cognitive Processing Weaknesses

Has difficulty with math, reading, spelling, reading comprehension, writing, or processing auditory information
Seems smart, but is not able to apply self to the fullest and earn appropriate grades
Homework takes too long; has poor organizational skills
Has difficulty with multi-step directions and forgets what is told to them
Dislikes school or avoids and has difficulty completing homework

Challenges Relating to Underlying Ocular Motor Weakness

Avoids reading and writing or is a slow reader
Complains of their eyes hurting or being tired during reading / homework
Skips words / lines or misreads words while reading
Loses their place frequently when copying or takes too long to copy information
Has difficulty catching a ball coming towards them and may have difficulty playing sports
May have challenges with writing neatly

Challenges Relating to Activities of Daily Living and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living

Has difficulty using utensils while eating
Has difficulty dressing / undressing
Has poor grooming and hygiene skills or tolerance
Has difficulty learning how to hang and fold clothes
Has difficulty organizing time to get ready in a timely manner
Has difficulty opening and closing containers, Ziploc bags, etc.
Has difficulty sequencing steps to make a simple snack or to make a bed, etc.

Challenges Relating to Speech or Language

Is delayed in talking / using expressive vocabulary
Has difficulty following simple directions / Receptive Vocabulary
Has difficulty understanding auditory information / Auditory Processing Challenges
Uses poor articulation (i.e., saying sounds or pronouncing words correctly) / has Apraxia
Has difficulty carrying on a 2-way conversation
Has difficulty understanding conversations
Has difficulty retrieving words when talking

Challenges Relating to Behaviors

Experiences frequent temper tantrums or meltdowns over seemingly trivial matters
Becomes extremely upset or angry when told no or when they can’t do something they want to do
Demonstrates rigidity with routines, inflexible thinking, and difficulty with transitions
Encounters difficulty attending, listening, or following directions or rules
Cries, whines, hits, pushes, yells, kicks, or screams frequently when they don’t get their way
Demonstrates impulsive or self-injurious behaviors
Behaves with disrespect or defiance, throws toys or objects, or are mean to pets
Has a difficult time following school routines and doesn’t listen to their teacher or peers
Is unable to participate appropriately in childhood activities and extracurriculars
Presents with significant safety concerns

Trust Your Instincts and Don’t Wait to Support Your Child’s Potential

You are the expert on your child. If your gut is telling you something isn’t quite right, listen to it. When it comes to development, there is no such thing as being too early. Clinical research shows that the early years represent a golden window where the brain is like a sponge and most responsive to therapy. Acting now and not waiting to see gives your child the strongest advantage!