By Sarah Carr - The Hechinger Report
This article on early intervention was produced by The Hechinger Report, an independent nonprofit news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Read his other articles in Spanish.
It was translated by Lygia Navarro. Read it in Spanish.
By the time her daughter turned 3, Ramona Santos Torres noticed something wasn't quite right when she spoke. The little girl was babbling, but nothing she said was intelligible. He rarely made eye contact. Santos knew that most babies start saying a few words before they are 2 years old. "We couldn't understand what he was saying," Santos recalled.
The mother, who lives in Providence, Rhode Island, mentioned it to her daughter's pediatrician. He quickly dismissed the concern, saying the speech delay was due to the family speaking Spanish and English at home.
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"It was so frustrating how little he listened to me," Santos said. (Studies have shown that early bilingualism may, in fact, confer social and cognitive benefits.)
When the girl was diagnosed with autism and cognitive delays a couple of years later, it didn't feel like vindication, because Santos knew her daughter had lost crucial help during the critical years of brain development.
"We missed the 1-to-4 period, which is such a precious age," Santos Torres said.