I'm with Lauren on the wondering why more pediatricians don't validate parent's concerns more often. What does looking into things hurt? If the parents are wrong, good. If they're right, they will be able to get to the EI services all that much faster.
When Luke was a baby, the fact that he was delayed became obvious to me much before it did to the professionals. I was told that his delay was preemie related and he would catch up. I knew deep down it was something else. It took us until he was over a year old and could not sit up on his own before I found someone who listened. It took some doing to get EI services going for him, but once we were on, it was easy. We got PT, OT, speech and cognitive therapies started before he turned 2. He was able to start Early Childhood Special Ed when he was 2 as well and that was so important.
Linsay, you are right. If you don't have someone to help you along, it can be sooo difficult to know what's out there and how to get it. There are several child and family advocates out there in my state and I suspect others as well. You just have to keep digging. The state and counties and even the school districts aren't always willing to share a lot of information, sometimes they aren't aware of it themselves, but I get the feeling they just don't want to pay for it.