Blog Action Day: Inequality Starts Early and Gets Worse Fast

Today is blog action day, a day when bloggers unite to write about one topic — this year it is poverty. Kristina B is sending homeless kids trick or treating, the General Crime Folks are compiling a list of resources on poverty and crime. Happily (or not), the topic of the day fits in nicely with a post I’ve been meaning to write on developmental delays, poverty, and inequality in attainment.

In my recent travels in autism world, I am continually struck (read: slapped in the face on a daily basis) by the vast differences in services that are available to kids with any sort of developmental delay (of which autism is one). Children with developmental delays, by federal law, are the responsibility of the state, county, or school district. Large differences in funding affect the variety, availability, and quality of services children receive. Parents also differ in their ability to negotiate with service providers and in their access to experts. Services tend to be given in a one-size fits all fashion (and rarely match need) in the absence of significant parental involvement.

More insidious is that developmental delays are ‘owned’ by a number of disciplines, thus no one really takes full responsibility for them and it places an extraordinary burden on parents to organize, negotiate, and coordinate among all the specialties. For the average parent with resources, negotiating a problem that is ‘owned’ by medicine (neurology), psychology, education, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and nutritionists (to name a few) is a dizzying and resource-draining experience.

Any sociologist worth their salt ought to know that parents of developmentally-delayed kids who are also living in poverty will be less likely to get the services their child needs and less likely to be listened to when advocating for their child. Significant developmental delays at age 3 are likely to cumulate over time and may also influence long-term attainment. Moreover, available evidence suggests that every dollar spent in early childhood saves many dollars later on.

If this topic interests you, you can help in the following ways:

Donate your time or money to Autism Speaks. (They produce a 100 Days Kit to guide parents of newly-diagnosed children through the process, match parents with others who are further post-diagnosis, and funds family support groups to train parents on interventions and negotiation with state organizations.)

If you have a child with a developmental delay, volunteer to mentor an impoverished parent with a new diagnosis.

Invite a kid with a developmental delay over for a regular play date with your ‘typical’ child so parents don’t have to pay more out of pocket to facilitate these interactions. Children with delays get a lot out of structured one-to-one play time with kids who have more language or social skills. Typical kids get a lot out of helping kids who struggle with language, you’ll get to spend good time with your own child, and you’ll give a parent a much-needed break (you might even turn your terror into a better big brother or big sister).*

Donate intervention tools to your local or county early intervention center. These might include: symbolic play toys, tools for laminating tags and picture schedules, flash cards, or other materials (see here for ideas).

*Structured means no free-play — plan an activity with a beginning, middle, and end and clear steps all the way through (e.g., bake cookies, specific art project, etc).