17 month old..developmental stages..colors and matching.

Question

Hi. Our adoptive child is in a voluntary developmental therapy, though we want to stop it. He was evaluated yesterday and found to be on or above target in all areas. However, the therapists say he should continue with therapy for the reasons listed below. He has just turned 17 months old. I am just thinking these expectations are a bit high...but I could be wrong. Your experiences/thoughts? Could/Did your child perform these tasks at 17 months?

Reasons:

He can't (hasn't tried yet) walk a 2ftx8ft board without assistance.

He can't walk a 2-3 wideinch board with assistance (again, we haven't tried this).

He isn't potty trained.

He doesn't know his colors yet.

He is unable to match same colored items/matches. For clarification: He knows what a shoe is...he knows that 2 shoes go together..If I hold his tennis shoe and ask him to get its match, he is unable to do so (without luck).

I know every child is different and develops differently...I am just seeking clarification/validation/confirmation as to what is 'on target' and what is 'behind' based on your experiences. thanks!

Answer 1

I think your therapist is pushing this kid to do too much too fast.  I think average children are not potty trained til 2-3 years old.  Colors....3-4.  

I suppose your therapist will want this child to count to a hundred next week too!  lol

When can a kid be a kid?  

Answer 2

my son is 21 mnths. and not doing any of the things you mentioned above (he doesn't even walk yet.)

It really is up to you at this point whether to continue the therapy or not. The real question you need to ask yourself is if you've seen  progress from month to month in the therapy sessions. if the answer is not really, then just quit the therapy. my guess is that you live in a small town, where there are more therapists than kids who need therapy, and your therapist is worried about losing her/his income. I know from personal experience that there are different state targeting  tests that  can be done to evaluate for therapy eligibility. (they also vary state to state) and there are ways for therapists to evaluate with a curve, so that the kid can continue therapy, if they don't really qualify according to standard A (whatever that may be) so then they try the standard B eval. -- just to keep the child in therapy. If you really can't decide though, google "growth expectations of toddlers" or something like that, where you can find what are the true expectations of 18 month olds

Good Luck and Enjoy

Answer 3

In my opinion, those expectations are way too high for 17 months. Like you said, what I'm going to say is based on my experience with my son, I'm not saying that these are norms or averages.

My son didn't walk until 15 months. I doubt he would have been able to walk 8 feet in a straight line by 17 months. Or, a 2-3 inch wide board with assistance.

Potty trained? I'm chuckling at that. That's outrageous to me. Though I know we're on the very late side here, my son just turned 3 years and isn't potty trained. Seventeen months is crazy to me.

As far as the matching and knowing colors, I'm fuzzy about where my son was with that at that age. He may have known one or two colors, maximum.

But, he's at or above target developmentally so you're doing something right. Obviously, I can't say whether it's the program or the parenting or a combination of both. Since he's doing so well, through, I would continue the therapy unless there's something about it that you really don't like. It sounds like it's good for him and it helps him. Why not continue and see how much more he's capable of? That's what I would do. Good luck!

Answer 4

I don't have kids, but I've taken a parent/child development class in school. Personally, I'd say the not being potty trained is perfectly fine, 17 months sounds absurdly early to expect a child to potty train, especially since boys seem to generally take longer to do so than girls.  If he hasn't tried the walking the boards things, I wouldn't worry about those just yet. The colors thing shouldn't be too difficult, if you just work it in during your day, such as asking "What color is that car? Is it...red?" and stuff like that, he should probably pick up on them. Still, though, he's only about a year and a half, that seems pretty early for most of this stuff...

Answer 5

Your therapist wants to make another Einstein!  Potty trained, knowing colours at 17 months sounds a bit early.  I'm sure some do it but a lot don't!  As for the walking the board, I am not sure what you mean.  Is that an elevated board?  Making a baby walk on a narrow elevated surface seems like pure craziness to me.  I would get my kid out of there in a flash!