Understanding the process of early childhood developmental evaluations: Part 1
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EmailBecome familiar with early childhood developmental evaluation, ways to request an evaluation for your child, how the process works, and how to prepare for the first meeting.
Have you ever wondered about your child’s overall development? Many parents and caregivers do a great job following along with, and even tracking, how their children are doing with their speech and language, motor skills and social skills. However, there are early childhood professionals who can track your child’s developmental milestones while looking for any delays that may be happening. This article series will focus on developmental evaluations and how you can request, prepare for, and ultimately participate in an online or in-person early childhood developmental evaluation.
To begin, why may you want to have an evaluation for your child and what does the evaluation actually consists of? There are many types of evaluations that may be done online with a parent or caregiver filling out a questionnaire. The evaluations can also be completed in-person with a child developmental specialist visiting the home or an agreed upon appropriate location in the community. A good example of an online evaluation is the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, more commonly referred to as the ASQ. Another very commonly used in-person evaluation is the Infant and Toddler Developmental Assessment or IDA. The ASQ and IDA both cover many domains of child development including: speech and language, fine motor, gross motor, social/emotional and cognitive skill growth.
Knowing when to seek out or complete an evaluation can be different for every parent or caregiver. For many, it is a feeling (often described as your gut feeling) that makes them take the lead. If you feel your child may be struggling or falling behind developmentally, it’s a good idea to complete an online evaluation or reach out to your local Early-On or school district to request an in-person evaluation.
The ASQ is a very good place to start. It is a quick questionnaire, which will give you a snapshot of where your child is placing on a developmental age range. The ranges often work in three-month increments. For example, the range is typically 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, etc., until the age of three (or 36 months). After completing an ASQ online, you may request to be contacted to discuss results and receive referrals if needed for a deeper evaluation. Often, the ASQ results will lead to resources and community contacts to aid in increasing their child’s developmental skills. A quick search of ASQ and your county name will typically produce direct links to begin the ASQ process. Many ASQ websites are monitored locally by the Great Start Collaborative.
You can learn more about child development, parent and caregiver webinars, and family activities by visiting the Michigan State University Extension Child and Family Development webpage and the MI Stronger Family Facebook page.
