SANTA ANA, Calif. — A Santa Ana-based nonprofit is on a quest to help children who may have developmental delays.
The Regional Center of Orange County serves over 23,000 residents in the area but is concerned some are being missed because of the pandemic.
Now they’re offering free developmental screenings for the public.
One screening helped the son of one of their own employees.
Kaitlynn Truong noticed her son Leo spoke little. Since he was 14 months old, he didn’t make eye contact and didn’t respond to his name. He also threw tantrums, but she thought little of it.
“I thought he was normal because I took him to well-baby visits and the doctor didn’t say anything or any red flags,” Truong said. “He’s still eating and gaining weight, so we thought he’s ok.”
She mentioned his behavior to a co-worker at the regional center who suggested she have him screened for developmental delays. She was hesitant.
“Of course, as a mom, I did not want my child to be abnormal. I was like, no, my child is very normal. So I kind of have a resistant attitude at that time,” Truong said. “But then my co-worker tells me that and the screening actually confirmed that, so I think he needs help.”
Her son and hundreds of other kids receive help at the regional center. Twenty-one centers throughout the state support families of children with developmental disabilities.
Regional Center of Orange County Executive Director Larry Landauer says there has been a pandemic-related decrease in children receiving early intervention therapy.
In response, the Early Start program is hosting free child development screenings at different locations throughout Orange County. The goal is to identify any child that may have delays and provide therapy. The earlier, the better.
“If someone has a little delay In their fine motor or gross motor or different skills, these therapists get them back on track,” Landauer said. “We see close to at this regional center almost 87% get back to normal limits by the age of three.”
Truong was eventually convinced that therapy could help her son, but she had to bridge a cultural divide and convince her parents, who are from Vietnam.
“They thought I labeled him as disabled,” Truong said. “I have to explain to them it’s not disability, it’s just that he has some developmental delays and that he needs a little boost.”
After a year and a half of in-home therapy, he was back on track. Now Leo has been labeled as gifted and is part of the gifted and talented program at his school.
The next open and free developmental screening is Sept. 23 in San Juan Capistrano. There will also be one in Irvine in October.
Contact the Regional Center of Orange County for more information.