Developmental Assessments

Developmental Assessments :

Developmental assessments are evaluations conducted to monitor a child’s growth and progress across various domains of development, including physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and language development. These assessments help identify strengths, areas of concern, and developmental delays, allowing for early intervention and support when needed.

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Importance of the Developmental Assessment

1. Developmental assessments are usually done because of a concern that the child may have a developmental delay or disorder. It is important to include a developmental assessment when evaluating children with possible developmental problems because such assessments can:

• help identify possible developmental problems and the need for further diagnostic evaluation
• provide an objective description of the child’s abilities and deficits (a functional assessment)
• determine eligibility for programs (such as early intervention programs)
• aid in planning for appropriate interventions.

2. In children who are diagnosed with autism, or in whom there is sufficient evidence to suggest a diagnosis of autism, it is very important to do a general assessment of all developmental domains. Because children with autism may demonstrate different patterns of strengths and weaknesses, it is important to individualize the specific components of a developmental assessment.

3. It is recommended that a developmental assessment for a young child provide an adequate functional evaluation of all developmental domains.

Important components of a developmental assessment include the following:

• standardized testing of:
  • cognitive ability
  • communication
  • motor/physical skills
  • adaptive skills
  • social, emotional, and behavioral functioning
  • sensory processing
• curriculum-based assessments
• observation of the child at informal or structured play and of parent-child interactions
• parental interview to elicit their concerns, obtain a history of the child’s early development, and gather information about the child’s current level of functioning
• review of the child’s records (health, education and daycare, etc.) and family medical history.