Soren Update: 15-Month Wellness Visit

Soren almost didn't make it to his 15-month wellness visit.  That's because I completely forgot he was supposed to have an appointment until Chris asked about it, at which point I brushed him off. I told him Soren's next appointment wasn't until 18 months.  A couple weeks later, I at least double-checked with the pediatrician's office, and well, Soren was supposed to see the doctor for a routine well-child visit. 

Soren finally surpassed the 20-pound mark at 20 pounds, seven ounces, which puts him in the fifth percentile.  The doctor said his weight gain was actually more than what's typical for this age, but that Soren is playing catch-up.  And he's still not concerned about his low weight since Soren eats well. 

At 30 inches tall, he's in the 20th percentile.  His head circumference is in the 50th percentile. 

When I first received a questionnaire from the nurse to report on Soren's development , I thought perhaps they had started doing the autism screening earlier since I thought I remembered the screening for Oliver taking place at 18 months.  Instead it was the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (I filled out the 16-Month version), which assesses the development status of a young child across five developmental areas: communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving and personal-social.  You can measure the progression of development by completing a questionnaire a various ages from two months to five years.  This is a helpful tool, because when Oliver was a baby, I had no idea what developmental milestones I was supposed to watch out for. Or if my expectations were too high for what he was developmentally capable of. 

Since I know my kids' pediatrician is asking the right questions about their development, it's a shame the questionnaire is being imposed by insurance companies intent on making doctors prove that they're tracking development, even if it's otherwise a good resource for parents.  As the doctor pointed out, the questionnaire is redundant since the doctor did and has always interviewed me about my kids' development.  How many words can he say?  Does he scribble with crayons?  Can he feed himself?  His questions facilitated a dialogue around issues I had concerns with.  Meanwhile, I dutifully filled it out and then I guess it was stuck in Soren's records since no even asked about it or looked at it.  The doctor complained about it being another hurdle in providing care and created more paperwork for them.

Even if the questionnaire doesn't improve the care my kids receive at their well-child visits, it'd be nice if the practice made better use of the resource.  The questionnaire is designed to do at home with your child, so the practice wasn't even using the questionnaire the way it had been designed to be used.  If parents have access to the appropriate level questionnaire ahead of an appointment and it can prompt parents to ask the right questions.