⭐ PensacolaCoPilot Preferred — Health & Hope Clinic
(850) 479-4456 · 1718 E. Olive Rd., Pensacola · healthandhopeclinic.org
If your child is uninsured and your family meets its eligibility rules, call to ask whether it can arrange a pediatric developmental visit or referral. It provides free primary/preventive care for uninsured Florida residents who qualify.

The call: Schedule a visit with your child’s pediatrician this week for a developmental and hearing check, and make a self-referral to Western Panhandle Early Steps now—at 16 months, it is appropriate to evaluate rather than wait and see.

Real-time local factors

• At 16 months, no single words yet is a reason to discuss evaluation; loss of words, gestures, or social skills deserves prompt attention. Speech/language red flags
• Ask the pediatrician to check for hearing issues, including fluid/ear infections, because hearing can affect language development.
• Western Panhandle Early Steps serves Escambia and Santa Rosa families with children birth through 36 months who may have developmental delays. A parent can refer directly—no need to wait for a diagnosis. Make an Early Steps referral
• Call Early Steps: (850) 416-7656, Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–5 p.m. (confirm intake details when you call). They can assess eligibility and coordinate early-intervention services, often in the child’s natural daily setting.
• Bring/prepare: your child’s insurance card if applicable, pediatric records, a short list of words/sounds/gestures he uses, and whether he follows simple directions, points, responds to his name, and has had frequent ear infections.

Runners-up

• Your established pediatrician — best if you already have one; ask specifically for “developmental screening, hearing evaluation, and an Early Steps/speech-language referral.”
• Early Steps directly — go here first instead if the pediatrician appointment is weeks away; intervention can start with evaluation and family coaching before a formal diagnosis.
• Health & Hope Clinic — go here instead if lack of insurance is what is keeping you from seeking care; confirm pediatric availability and enrollment by phone.

What flips this: If he has lost skills he used to have, does not respond to his name, does not gesture/point to communicate, or seems unable to hear, call his pediatrician urgently rather than waiting for routine scheduling.

At home, keep it simple: narrate daily routines, read/sing every day, pause to let him respond, and imitate his sounds—without pressuring him to repeat words. This is not your fault, and getting an evaluation early is the right move.

👉 Is he using any words, pointing/waving, and responding to his name?