Right.

Now that I have been working with children more, I realize how many unrealistic expectations parents have of the development of their children. I have some parents bring in a 2 year old who isn't say a lot of words or verbally communicating but they are pointing and nonverbally communicating just fine. The parents are flipping out and it is sometimes impossible for me to convince them that their child does not need therapy. Then I have others who have a child who is a complete mess, and they ask "Do you think she'll need therapy more than 4 times?"

I had one 3 year old patient, who had autism spectrum written all over him at the eval. We DO NOT diagnosis this, we simply communicate the concerning "atypical behaviors" with their Doctor, and recommend an eval at Vanderbilt. We never mention the "a" word until it has been diagnosed by the proper professionals.

After evaluating this particular child, I suggested to mom that we start with therapy, but in the mean time get him on the waiting list at Vandy, as it can take up to 6 months to get in. She completely agreed. About an hour later, I got a call from Dad (who is very educated) who told me he did not agree with this plan and didn't want a label slapped on his child at this point. I respected his opinion as the patient's father, for the most part (though early diagnosis is KEY!), until he said the following FABULOUS quote,

"I just think that if he can start speech therapy and start talking, then HE can just tell us what is wrong with him and what's going on psychologically."