Three Healthy Steps

Today I took A to see the child development specialist. We used to go see them around every major milestone when A was an infant. However, it's been awhile. We've been busy/haven't had concerns, etc. We still don't have real concerns but I thought it would be good to go in again to have a few questions answered and such. I also remembered that Healthy Steps is a 0-3 program and I wanted to get her in before the program ended (turns out, it goes through 3 years old). Much of the information was similar to what Healthy Steps had said in the past--she looks good, especially verbally (expressive and receptive language) and socio-emotionally although this was not an actual formal evaluation. She laughed several times when A would naturally demonstrate something she could check off on her list before she could ask me about it or prompt her.

One of the major things we wanted to discuss was that A has developed two tics in the last year. She occasionally will blink oddly and also will 'clear her throat' while engaged in an activity (like watching tv or completing a puzzle). The specialist said this is not unusual around age 3 and while we should continue to watch both, we shouldn't draw attention to it or be overly concerned.

She noted that she thought A might be anxious in new situations and slow to warm up which is true. She indicated that a reason she might not play as much with her friends (and she sometimes shows a stronger preference for teachers than classmates; takes awhile to play with friends at parties) is feeling overwhelmed and uncomfortable. In general, A can be fearful and we continue to try to support and validate but not reinforce. She suggested getting together with 1-2 other kids on occasion.

She also asked if I thought A was "quite precocious" or "just very bright". Clearly I am neither because I do not really understand the distinction. I explained that I believe A has some strengths that are apparent (verbal and social) but that we also see areas for improvement (fine motor, daily living). But overall, we seem to be in agreement that she's doing pretty well. I went back and forth about posting but knew that 1) family love these updates and 2) inevitably, I will try to remember details about this visit in a few weeks/months/years so it is good to have this record.

p.s. The title of this blog post is super random. We don't even watch the show Special Agent Oso but in my head, I somehow know that one of the main songs goes "three healthy steps". And once I connected that for this post, I couldn't get the song out of my head. You're welcome.