Just step up for assistance for your special-needs toddler

In this article, you’ll find answers to questions like:

1. Does the county offer help?
2. Who gives referrals to programs?
3. How are children monitored?

If you suspect your child has a developmental delay or disability, local organizations are here to help.

1. DOES THE COUNTY OFFER HELP?

Palm Beach County offers several programs, by age, for children diagnosed with a developmental disorder or who just need a boost catching up with peers.

In addition to Early Steps for children up to age 3, The Arc of Palm Beach County offers the First Step to Success. Both programs, which receive funding from Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County, work with parents to determine the best approach to help children behind in areas such as gross- and fine-motor skills, language and social skills, and emotional maturity.

Early Steps is for children diagnosed with a disorder, while First Step works with children who scored low on screenings and developmental tests but haven’t been diagnosed.

For children ages 3 to 5 and school-aged children, the Palm Beach County School District offers the Child Find program, which continues therapeutic programs started in Early Steps or First Step to Success.

2. WHO GIVES REFERRALS TO PROGRAMS?

Dozens of sources, such as pediatricians, hospitals, child care programs and community programs, refer children to these programs.

“We do a full evaluation to determine if a child needs help and what kind of help,” says Marissa Barrera, Early Steps program coordinator for Easterseals Florida. “We have a team of professionals who provide services such as speech therapy, etc.”

Specialists in each program meet with families as much as once a week at home or another convenient location. Therapy might resemble play, Barrera says, but it’s geared to help children catch up to others their age. The Early Steps program helps as many as 4,000 children a year in Palm Beach, Martin, Okeechobee, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, she says.

“We have to be as flexible as possible when working with the parents,” says Ruth Acosta-Flores, First Step former program director. “We use toys to elicit certain skills and to make sure the child is working on the skills necessary to help them catch up.”

3. HOW ARE CHILDREN MONITORED?

Children are re-evaluated at certain intervals in the early programs to determine if they need to continue therapy. Six months before a child turns 3, specialists begin transitioning qualified children into the Child Find program.

“The Child Find program works with children as young as 3 and from K to 12,” says Kevin McCormick, director of the school district’s Exceptional Student Education program. “Wherever there are children who need our program, our specialists will be there.”

Children are not required to enter Child Find from earlier programs, McCormick says. Parents can simply call for an evaluation. If testing determines the child qualifies, the family can enroll.

Thea Chimenti's son, Chase, entered the world prematurely at 28 weeks. Doctors had warned her throughout her difficult pregnancy that her child might be born with a developmental disorder.

When she brought him home to Boca Raton, she called Easterseals Florida's Treasure Coast Early Steps program for help.

“They gave me paperwork in the newborn intensive care unit to enroll my son in an early intervention program,” Chimenti says of Chase, who has cerebral palsy. “I didn’t know how severe his delay would be, but I knew to seek help immediately.”

These programs have been instrumental in Chase’s development, says Chimenti, whose daughter, Chloe, has mild cerebral palsy.

“It has been such a rewarding experience, and it has taught me so much,” says Chimenti, whose son received therapy at J.C. Mitchell Elementary School in Boca Raton. “I really believe in what they’re doing. I don’t think Chase would have come as far as he has if not for the early intervention he got and the therapy he continues to get from these programs.”

SOURCES:

• Marissa Barrera, program coordinator of Treasure Coast Early Steps, Easterseals Florida
• Ruth Acosta-Flores, former program director of First Step to Success, The Arc of Palm Beach County
• Kevin McCormick, director of Exceptional Student Education, Palm Beach County School District