Trust Your Judgment
Who are the best people to identify problems in children early? Pediatricians? Psychologists? Neurologists? Teachers?
Nope, in my opinion, it’s the moms.
They know what’s going on with their child and their judgment is rarely wrong.
Over the years as parents have come in to consult with me about their children’s struggling, 99% of the time when the mom thinks something is wrong with her child, there is something there.
Yet often when the moms raise the issue with a professional they frequently hear messages like the following:
- “You know how boys are.”
- “He’s a late bloomer.”
- “You’re worrying too much.”
- “We need to wait until third grade to see what’s going on.”
Too often, the moms accept these messages and go against their intuition.
Tonight, I had a mom say, “In my heart, I know he’s struggling and something is going on, even though I keep hearing from others that I’m worrying needlessly. Look, where there’s smoke there’s fire. I know my kid is struggling. He’s in third grade and I keep getting put off. I know I need to do something.”
Listening to her talk about her concerns, I knew she was correct.
Research in early reading difficulty tells us an important truth – there is no purpose in waiting.
At the first sign of concern, it’s not time to panic, but to take an effective action. The effective action may involve paying for something like tutoring, but if you can swing it, then you are taking an action. You are not waiting for approval while things may be getting worse.
Takeaway Point
Listen to yourselves, moms. You know what’s going on with your child. If you think something is going on, odds are you are correct.
