Thoughts on evals

About those pesky developmental evaluations . . . I've been thinking a lot about this. I mean, Finn being all grabby with the boobs is funny and all, but in all seriousness, it does show that he's on the ball, you know? And I can tell you that he knows the layout of our house, and his favorite room is the playroom, which is at the back of the house, behind his sisters' bedroom. So it takes a little thought, and a little navigation, but he finds his way in there every single day. And he knows exactly where to find the little plastic rocking horse in the girls' dollhouse - he loves that little rocking horse. He knows exactly where his basket of toys is kept in the corner of the living room. He knows how to grab the string on the hood of my jacket in a perfect pincer grasp and put it in his mouth. When he hears his Daddy start strumming his guitar all the way across the house, he goes and finds Daddy, because he loves music and responds to it.

I think, in a big, huge way, these developmental assessments they undergo every six months are complete and utter bullshit. I mean, I know they have to do them in order to keep services going. But they just do not give a true and accurate picture of any child's capabilities. I wish that, instead of sitting down for a half hour and trying to make Finn follow commands that he's not used to, the therapist/evaluator would be required to observe quietly, like a fly on the wall, for a day, or even an afternoon. That would give a much truer picture of what Finn is all about.