Expert: Valerie Herskowitz - 4/7/2011

Question
QUESTION: I have two little kids: a 24 month old and an 8 month old.  My oldest one has been a very fast learner and he is incredibly good at physical activities and even music.  He dances to the rhythm of different beats and can bang drums to different songs.  He was doing a very good job with words too, but it changed since my second baby was born.  He communicates with us all the time mainly by pointing and taking us to things.  He would ask for his milk or juice and ask for mom and dad using words; he used to have a "broad" vocabulary but now he is sort of going back.  Sometimes when he "feels like it" he would say multiple things like "once more" or "come" or "gimme" but most of the times he tries to go with just pointing.   We use two different languages at home and for a while I thought it could be related to that but now I am not sure.  Could it be something else?
We have our next checkup in two weeks.
Thanks a lot,

a concerned dad

ANSWER: Hi David

You are correct to be concerned. I doubt the new baby is the reason he has regressed so greatly. I would highly recommend that you take him IMMEDIATELY to a developmental pediatrician to see what is going on. Don't bother asking your regular pediatrician. Please take him to a specialist in development.

Meanwhile, you also need to start working on the language development. You have several choices on that one. Start by looking into the Early Intervention Team in your town. You can probably find out the phone number by calling your local school district. Or you can take him to a private speech therapist. Or you can do a home intervention program with my help. Either avenue is good, but again, don't wait.

Keep me in the loop

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: How do we go about the home intervention program?

Answer
Hi David

I would start with a phone conference with you that takes about an hour. From there, I make recommendations that of things that you can do at home in a structured manner. From there, we can set up other consults or you can do it on your own. If this is something that you would like to do, email me at info@valerieherskowitz.com