I'm not saying the thesis here is wrong - it definitely feels directionally correct. But I always wonder with these panics about children's development - do we actually know that developing certain types of skills at certain periods is critical, in the long run?
I think about this often with my own kid. He was behind on speech milestones. I looked up outcomes for kids behind on speech milestones. Data shows that early intervention seems to help speech/reading skills into early elementary school. But there was very little data on the longer term outcomes. Does speech therapy when you're 2 or 3 years old really impact your career or lifetime earnings? Seems like it might for kids with true developmental/learning disabilities. But everyone else?
As our pediatrician often says "[Outside of severe disability] Nobody goes off to college needing their mommy to sleep, or being unable to use a fork".
How many industry leaders do you know with speech impediments? And, no, these impediments don't usually vanish over time -- I come from a large family (8 kids), and one of my youngest sisters was allowed to "grow out" of her inability to pronounce 's' and 'r' -- but it never happened, and she required speech therapy at 20. She still struggles. Parents are correct to pay attention to young-childhood milestones.
At least this one is not. I've broken my dominant hand before and then separated the same shoulder, both in the same year, and was surprised to find using scissors to be the single most difficult thing to do with my non-dominant hand, other than writing. It took a few months to get it right, but that's it. Not like it's a lifelong deficiency. You just learn later. Presumably, kids with their inherently more plastic neuromuscular systems learn faster than a 44 year-old, too.
It's because scissors are actually made for use in one hand or the other. Most are made for right-handed people. If you're left-handed (or forced to use your left hand), get scissors made for left-handed people and they will be easier to use.
>But I always wonder with these panics about children's development
The panics are definitely overblown, if not entirely wrong... soon, there won't be (m)any children to worry about, and then the human race becomes extinct (or maybe just feral). A glorious future awaits.
I think about this often with my own kid. He was behind on speech milestones. I looked up outcomes for kids behind on speech milestones. Data shows that early intervention seems to help speech/reading skills into early elementary school. But there was very little data on the longer term outcomes. Does speech therapy when you're 2 or 3 years old really impact your career or lifetime earnings? Seems like it might for kids with true developmental/learning disabilities. But everyone else?
As our pediatrician often says "[Outside of severe disability] Nobody goes off to college needing their mommy to sleep, or being unable to use a fork".