United Brachial Plexus Network

Hi, we just came back from an 18 month assessment and the therapists are saying that Josiah is at a 10 month level physically and a 14 month level comprehensionally. (Is that a word?) Anyway, I was wondering if anyone who was born with this injury or whose child has the injury experienced these same kinds of delays. He's been walking around while holding on to the furniture and sometimes when he is distracted will let go and stand on his own. But, he prefers to scoot on his bottom and when we try to let go and make him walk he immediately goes down. Does anyone have any suggestions? Also, what about language delays, anyone else dealing or has dealt with the same thing? Thanks so much and hope everyone is doing well. Sarah

Hi Sarah,
Each of my 3 started walking at around 13 months. My youngest was born with severe LOBPI, and is now age 20. I do remember my Jill crawled by scooting on her tummy, and later she walked on her knees.

My O.T. questioned me about Jill, that she did not talk enough and that she did not use enough words. I told her I thought Jill's language skills were just fine, and mentioned several of the words I had heard her say to me or her sisters. Well the O.T. counted the ones I mentioned and said, for her age that is not enough words.

I do believe I rolled my eyes, and did not give it a lot of concern. However I do think I was a little miffed at the O.T. For my Jill, she just didn't like to talk to the O.T., so she didn't. How does your fella do at home for his speech? My Jill is just fine and a Junior in college.

I did read a lot to my children and I had a lot of fun childrens music tapes I played for them. For my Jill she just took off and followed her sisters, so close in age. So being around other children is good too. I didn't start my business until my children were ages 2,3 & 5, so I also did play with them and encouraged motor skills through play.

Hi Sarah, my child experienced a great deal of delays. She has hypotonia (low tone) and you combine that with multiple surgeries at an early age you get gross motor and speech delays. It's because on top of everything else, the body is so busy healing that it doesn't have the way to keep up with normal developmental stuff. She is in a lot of PT and speech therapy and as the years go by the delays get smaller and smaller. I'm certain that by the time another 3 years go by the delays will be completely gone. They all catch up in time. But I have to say that the PT, ST and OT were important to make the gap smaller and smaller.

Forgot to write above that she walked at 22 months with a lot of PT support. And when she did start walking she had a great deal of balance problems. We went to a new rehab hospital for therapy and they fit her in UCBL orthotics (little ones that went into her shoes) and it stopped the falling. Within six months she was walking perfectly without falling (too much - just here and there like any other child would).

It really helps to know that you're not alone. I guess that's why this site is so good. Josiah just got PT added to his OT and we were seeing a speech therapist for eating but he's been eating well for a while now. So, we stopped that but we're going to start again and this time do regular language/speech. Again, thanks so much for advice and empathy.

I started walking in the 12th month.
I never crawled, but I had a splint on that first year.

Nancy

Hi Sarah
Just this evening my daughter started to let go of the furniture and start walking. She is 11 1/2 months old. Her brother (no injury) walked at 11. She won't crawl, even though we try to get her on all fours as much as possible for weight bearing. She either scoots around the house on her bottom using her legs or uses whatever is near to balance and starts cruising. Do you have any walk behind type of toys. We have 2 and both her and her brother started walking with them at 7 months old. Balance is a big problem for our daughter so I think these toys really helped her with confidence and the getting down the basics with being upright. It will all come in time, just be patient. Best Wishes!

I was walking at 9 months old. I wore a brace for the first 11 months 24/7. I never crawled. My own children walked very early and crawled very early.

Kath

Hi, My son Thomas didn't walk until 18 months and he also is delayed in speach. He get's OT once a week since birth. To look at him he is a "normal" boy. He is now 26 months old and speach and eating/chewing is still an issue. Most 2 year olds can create 3 word sentances and Thomas is still working on letting us know if he wants something. He eats alot with his fingers because he gets tired of holding the spoon. He uses his front teeth to bite instead of the back teeth. He does lots of things out of the ordinary but speach and walking were and are big concerns. We are seeing a Neurologist this week, we'll see what he says.