MSU Extension Child & Family Development

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.

In the previous article in this series, we focused on knowing when it might be the right time to have an evaluation for your child. In this article, we will discuss how to schedule and what you will need to know when requesting a developmental evaluation.

When you are ready to request an evaluation from your local early childhood professional, be prepared to share your concerns and describe your feelings about your child’s developmental growth. Whether it be a concern for speech and language growth, motor skills, social/emotional or overall developmental skills, be ready to give a brief description of how your child is currently doing. A part of the first call may also involve gaining general knowledge about your child’s age, likes and dislikes, along with your child’s best time of day for play and company.

You also will be asked your child’s age. The best way to answer this question is by giving your child’s age in months. Knowing your child’s age in months can be extremely helpful and most evaluations look at a child’s development in three-month increments up until the age of three. If your child is under the age of two, you will typically be asked if they were premature. Early childhood developmental evaluations such as the Infant and Toddler Developmental Assessment (IDA) take prematurity into account when calculating the corrected (adjusted) age at which a child should be assessed. Healthychildren.org has a good description of corrected (adjusted) age and how it’s calculated with examples.

Lastly, you will be asked for the best time to have the evaluation completed. You want to think about your family and child’s daily routine, when they typically eat, nap and have their happiest time of the day. While not every daily routine runs according to plan all of the time, you are the greatest judge of when your child would be at their best to have visitors come and play with them while their caregivers are asked a bunch of questions. Know your own schedule ahead of time, when you will be available and where the best place to have the evaluation will be. In many cases, it will be in the child’s home. However, you may have to do the evaluation at a grandparents’ house, neighbors or even at the local library. As the child’s caregiver, you have the right to choose where the evaluation takes place as long as it is an appropriate, private and safe location. When thinking about the time of day, it is often best to meet with the evaluator when the child is most alert and ready to play. Often after breakfast and mid-afternoon tend to work well. Be aware that you may request an evening appointment but they are not always available, based on the program with which you are working.

One more thing to keep in mind is if your child has any medical concerns or if you have information to share from your pediatrician. You may want to note if there have been any allergies or illnesses with which your child has been dealing. Ultimately, the more the evaluator knows before visiting, the better prepared they will be to conduct the evaluation.

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.