Does a "cognitive delay" mean/equal mentally retarded?
One of my 20 month old Identical twins had an Early Intervention assessment (California) for speech and the report (in addition to language delay) said he had a “mild cognitive delay”. Does “cognitive delay” mean “mentally retarded”? No one will give me an answer to this.
The evaluator said the main reason is he failed the part of the test where he was supposed to match shapes on a puzzle- he couldn’t do this. I agree, at home he has problems with this. Was 20 months old at the time of the test, adjusted age 19 months. She said failing that test alone took him down from a 19 month old level to 15 months (test said 31% delay, so must have been a few other things)
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I agree, don't beat yourself up over this, both are just labels and what one must take into consideration is what went on in testing.
1 - it occurs in a place he is unfamiliar with
2 - with a person he doesn't know
3 - doing tasks he's unfamiliar with
4 - answers although they may be right, if they don't match exactly what they are looking for they will be counted as wrong (i.e. you show a child a picture of a triangle and they respond that it is a pyramid, but they only count "triangle" as the right answer.
I don't like IQ testing in small children, the reports are always the worst case scenario and often never focus on their strengths. Yet, on the other hand they could be helpful in measuring progress if the right interventions are provided, to determine if the child's educational program is meeting their needs, they can be used to access services, early intervention programs.
Don't get caught up on the labels, focus and build on his weaknesses and his strengths. Good luck and hugs!
it means dont beat yourself up.
be your happy self.
half the world is slow. lol
it means you must be kind enough to give yourself a few seconds.