Developmental Screening
What sets children apart from adults is that they are growing and developing. The body and brain are changing and developing at tremendous pace, and there are critical stages of development. Certain things must occur at certain ages or a child’s abilities will not develop properly. After that critical period, lifelong disability or decreased function or ability may be the result.
One of the main things we do at well visits is observe and evaluate your child’s development. We use observation in the office, talking with you about what kinds of things your child is doing, going through some questions and checklists, and at certain states, a formal validated survey tool to measure your child’s development.
We check development at every well visit, even in the teen years! We use formal, validated surveys at the 9, 18, and 2 ½ year well visits. We currently use the Ages and Stages (ASQ) survey. We also do autism screening at the 18 and 24 month well visits.
Resources for more information:
Local resources
References
Hagan JF, Shaw JS, Duncan PM, eds. Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, 4th ed. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics, 2017.
American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Children With Disabilities, Section on Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, Bright Futures Steering Committee and Medical Home Initiatives for Children With Special Needs Project Advisory Committee. Identifying infants and young children with developmental disorders in the medical home: an algorithm for developmental surveillance and screening. Pediatrics. 2006;118(1):405-420
American Academy of Pediatrics Periodicity Schedule