Assessments
Are you unsure about your child’s development?
Do you wonder if your child’s motor skills are developing on time?
Do you worry that your child isn’t talking on schedule or isn’t using enough words?
If you are asking these or similar questions, you are like most other parents of young children.
Assessing your child is very important
If you have developmental questions about your child, the first place you will turn is to your Pediatrician. And your Pediatrician is the first place you should go. You should know however that Pediatricians do not learn child growth and development in depth as part of their training. Thus, Pediatricians only have a general idea of what is “normal” development for children. My experience as a Preschool Special Education Teacher is that Pediatricians usually tell parents to wait and see what happens. Meanwhile valuable learning time is being lost for that child. The State of California through the Regional Centers will pay for intervention services for your child if he/she shows significant delays in any of the 4 areas of growth and development. The reason that the state is willing to pay for the intervention is because they know and I know that Early Intervention works. The earlier the intervention, the sooner the child catches up with his/her same age peers. Child Development Specialists and Psychologists specialize in all areas of child growth and development and are usually a better place to turn for a complete assessment of your child, especially if you have a concern about your child’s development.
It’s Aparent has researched the Developmental Assessments currently on the market and has chosen one of the newest assessments for children age’s birth to 42 months, the Bayley III. This assessment is a revision of the Bayley II (1993) which was a revision or the original Bayley first in use in 1969. The Bayley III is based on an extensive review of the literature incorporating a wide range of perspectives on early childhood development.
The Bayley III is a norm referenced assessment. The areas tested by the examiner are Cognitive; Language; (both expressive and receptive); and Motor (both fine and gross).
Your child will be tested in your own home where he/she is most comfortable. You will be given a questionnaire to fill out containing the Social Emotional and Adaptive Behavior sections of the Assessment with guidance from the examiner.
When all of the subtests have been administered, the data is inputted into a computer program which generates the raw score, a sum of scaled scores, composite scores, percentile rank, a qualitative description, and a scaled score profile.
Once the test has been scored by the computer you will be provided with a Caregiver Report which provides you with information about the Bayley III. It explains what the Bayley III measures. Page 3 of the profile gives information on your child’s subtest score profile. Scores from 8-12 are considered average. Pages 4-6 provide activities for you to share with your child at different stages in their development. Finally the last page provides information if you would like to do more research.
For more information on the Bayley III Assessment or to make an appointment, please call It’s Aparent, Parenting and Behavior Specialists at 818.222.2606.