Late walkers

My nephew is going to be 16 months next week. He's still not walking. He furniture surfs but not smoothly. The dr told my sister to call early intervention if he's not walking by 16 months. So I guess we have a few questions. 1. Is it worth it to call EI at 16 months? I thought the cut off was 18 months? 2. Has anyone had a late walker and they were fine in every other aspect? Or did they eventually need other services?

ETA: I worded it wrong with the 16-18 month cut off. I meant the cut off for walking is 18 months. So basically 16 months I thought was still in the acceptable range. So I was unsure why the dr would say call at 16 months.

Message edited 4/24/2017 2:04:15 PM.

Late walkers

Was he late in sitting up/crawling/rolling/etc? It wouldn't hurt to get the eval to see if he is low tone (My DS is) but if he is furniture surfing it sounds like he is well on his way and may not need EI.

Re: Late walkers

That's funny bc my Ped also said if they're not walking by 18 months then to try EI. He's 16 months and sounds like he's on track bc he's trying. I'd only be concerned if he wasn't even standing.
BTW - DS walked a week shy of 18 months and was fine. Never crawled again. He was also late with potty training. About 3 months shy of his 4th birthday, but just like with everything once he gets it down he never had an accident and even at night.
Wouldn't worry. Wait another month.

Also should add my DS can be lazy. LOL

Re: Late walkers

EI goes up until age 3

Late walkers

I would get him evaluated. My DS was evaluated at 22 months and started services at 23 months. He is eligible until age 3.

Late walkers

My dd walked around 15 months, and I was a little worried at the time, but once she started walking she caught up quickly and has had no issues since.

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Dd1 was a late walker. She was an early talker and was very articulate, forming sentences before she was walking.

You cannot begin EI until 18 months. You can start the process of paperwork, insurance etc, before that. You'll be called in for paperwork then assigned a case worker. You'll then up an evaluation at your home through your pick up pt agencies. From start to finish it took about a month and a half to start the pt.

Late walkers

Adding it's not considered late walker until 18 months.

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My DS didn't start walking until 17 months.

Maybe the ped wants you to call EI at 16 months because it takes time to fill out the packet, get an appointment etc. By the time you have everything in order they'll be 18 months.

Late walkers

Not sure why people are saying they can't start EI until 18 months, that's not true. Walking is not delayed until 18 months but they can qualify at any age and it goes up until 3.

Both my girls had physical therapy through EI, dd1 started at 14 months and I wish I'd done it sooner. Dd2 started at 8 months. They walked at 16 months and 13 months. EI will look at what they can do and the quality of their movement. They see much more than a parent or ped will see in my experience.

Re: Late walkers

The process takes 4-8 weeks from calling to starting services, so I would suggest placing the call now and at least having the conversation with the case worker. My DC was also a late walker and began EI services a little before 18 months. There were other underlying physical strength/confidence issues that were contributing to the walking late, so DC needed to build up core muscles and confidence in other body movements as well, so maybe that's why we were able to qualify for EI before 18 months. It was more than just not walking. Wasn't pulling up to stand yet, couldn't get into a sitting position from laying down, etc. There were no other issues and have been no other issues since. This was just an isolated thing with my DC and I think a lot of it had to do with confidence. DC is still not a super risk taking kind of kid - very cautious physically. Ended up walking by 20 months. EI worked pretty quickly. Good luck!

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My DS was not walking on his own at 16 months so I called and started the process. He would cruise along furniture and would walk holding our hand only.

By the time they came, he was 17 months and he started walking on his own the day before so no services were needed. He hasn't stopped running since that day, he was just a late walker.

Re: Late walkers

My ped wanted EI eval at 13 months because of other delays (no rolling, no crawling, no pulling herself up, no cruising). DD was found to have low muscle tone esp core, but her fine motor was advanced (stack blocks, do a puzzle, catch and throw a ball). She did not qualify despite being 1%tile in gross motor.

She ended up waking at 15 months (vs my other 2 at 11 mo and 13 mo). She never crawled. Now (19mo), she is on target for motor. Her fine motor is impressive. Verbally, she has a huge vocabulary and is linking words.

It doesn't hurt to see if your ped thinks you will qualify for EI (they have a good idea)... but if not, wait so you don't waste time.

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Both of my boys took their first steps at 16 months. I think they were just cautious. They never needed any services and both went from taking a few steps to walking FT very quickly.

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EI can start at birth for a variety of concerns. The reason why most wait til 18 mos. for walking is because
1) it's considered "late" if it hasn't emerged by 18 mos.
2) standardized scores compare you to same-aged peers within a 3 month span. So 16 month olds are compared to 15, 16, and 17 month olds. They are at the middle or older end of the range and so they are compared to kids still just turning 15 mos., when it's ok to not have great gross motor skills. Once they turn 18 mos., as in the DAY they turn 18 mos., they are now compared to 18-21 month olds. And so comparing an 18 month old to a group of kids who are slightly older raises the stakes of what it takes to be within normal expectations. It's more likely a delay will pop up in standardized testing when a child is 18 mos., 0 days than 17 mos., 29 days.

Your best bet is to call EI a few weeks before the child turns 18 months, but make sure the evaluated itself is scheduled for the first week or so AFTER the 18 month mark.

Re: Late walkers

We referred dd at 17 mos. She was tested at 18 mos. She qualified for speech and pt. They started at 19 mos. She walked at 21 mos., talked slightly after. She's now 4 - verbally incredibly strong but still receives pt. Still low tone and weak.