When she asked me if Miss C crawled and I answered no, she responded with this:

“Oh, then don’t worry, that means nothing, many children skip that whole phase and they have no issues. That old theory (meaning Jean Piaget’s and Erickson’s developmental theories) are about to fall out”.

Really??? I guess I didn’t get the memo.

I immediately intervened: “I’m sorry, but I differ. It is not NORMAL that a human being completely skip a whole developmental phase, these phases are crucial for acquiring skills. Crawling promotes bilateral development, so important for pedaling, going up stairs, physical exercises, moving your torso and legs in opposite directions, etc. etc.”

“Are you a teacher?”
“No, I am a mother.”

She then put Miss C to jump, go up stairs and other meaningless things.

The therapist, poor gal, wasn’t bad, or mean. She was young and very nice. But one thing doesn’t have to do with the other. When she finished her evaluation she sits and says:

“Her hands are very weak and her scapulas are very pronounced”.

(This scapula thing, another therapist that saw Miss C, commented could be a sign of poor muscular tone)

“I also see she has difficulty staying still in a chair (another hint of poor muscular tone), she has poor posture, but I don’t think she needs physical therapy. She jumps, pedals, goes up and down stairs. I can’t recommend her for therapy only for these factors. Her posture can be corrected at home and in school. Her scapulas can be worked on in the summer, taking her to the beach and doing various physical activities”.

She then gave me a list of things to do.

Insert my silence here.

“Now, if you see that in 6 months she gets worse, you can ask for a second evaluation”.

“Oh, so we have to wait until she is in a condition, where maybe the damage is irreversible to qualify for therapy?”

“I just don’t think she needs it. I can’t recommend it”.

“You think I like the idea of therapy? Of taking her out of her school on a bus? You think I wanna charge up her already packed therapy filled agenda? I cannot accept your conclusions and I don’t think that in 45 minutes you can appreciate the problem of my daughter and I surely don’t think that just because she can jump and throw a ball, is a sign that she is perfect”

“Well, you can talk to her Occupational Therapist to work on her hand muscles, and you can take her to the beach and park this summer”.

“Her O.T. has already a work plan for her, which is not exclusively based on hand muscles, and what are we going to do when summer is over and I can’t keep taking her to the beach or park?”

Silence.
Silence.
Silence.

“Well, what I can do is recommend her for therapy for a period of 6 months only and then have another revaluation with an note recommending her release since I do not agree she should be in therapy to begin with”.

“Then you do that. You approve her therapy for 6 months and after that I’ll take over”.

And that’s how it went.

If I would’ve stayed shut I would have lost my morning and I would have left out of there without therapies for my kid. These people think I enjoy being there losing out on work hours, because I’m a maniac of some sort.

Parents, get your facts straight and don’t keep your pie holes shut if you think that something is incorrect and you don’t agree with what ‘specialists’ say. You are an important part of the evaluations and the services you kids get, and it’s in your right to beg to differ.