I’ve been lurking and posting on this forum for nearly a decade, watching the same advice cycle through: catch every milestone, rush to early intervention if there’s even a hint of delay, and trust the experts to fix it all. But let’s be real-has anyone else started questioning if this “early intervention” push is more about pathologizing normal kid quirks than genuine support? My third child was flagged for motor delays at 18 months, and we got shuttled into occupational therapy sessions that felt scripted and impersonal, like assembly-line fixes rather than tailored help. Fast-forward three years, and those “issues” resolved mostly through play and patience at home, without the ongoing services. Now I’m wondering: are these programs truly evidence-based for long-term benefits, or are they just a gateway to over-diagnosing and medicating our way out of everyday parenting challenges? What’s been your experience with opting out or scaling back-did it backfire, or did it free up your family from the intervention treadmill?
