SHERIDAN, Wyo. (AP) - One-year-old Michael Abbott watched every move of the staff at the Child Development Center Region II. One after another, staff members greeted him in a high-pitched, friendly voice.
Michael remained shy toward most of the staff until Sarah Harper, an early intervention specialist and family service coordinator, brought him into a colorful room, laying out a Mary Poppins-like bag filled with toys, books, games and more.
Once Michael got his hands on the first toy, a smile never left his face, reported The Sheridan Press (https://bit.ly/2k8Wjba).
For him, it was playtime. For Harper, it was an opportunity to help him get a good start in life.
It’s called an early childhood screening, a process that the Child Development Center Region II staff use to determine developmental delays in children. It’s done as a toddler, but a screening can help your child to become successful well into adulthood.
During a screening, Harper said every detail is important.
How does a child interact with others? What words can they say? Do they respond to their name?
The screenings check for many early childhood delays. Michael’s screening began with a hearing and visual exam.
Then, he moved on to another room that looks more like a child’s playroom than an exam room. There, Harper observed Michael’s cognitive and fine-motor skills.
While Michael is placing one block on top of the other or throws the ball across the room, Harper takes diligent notes.
As a part of the screening process, she examines six developmental domains, which include expressive, receptive gross motor, fine motor, perceptual motor and adaptive and social skills.
“Really, we just play,” Harper said. “We just use that protocol and then tick off things a child does that are developmentally on track, and then those that may be somewhat delayed . we try to make (the screening process) as informal and fun as possible.”
While observing Michael’s play, Harper also provided tips to his mother, Melinda Abbott, to help improve his cognitive abilities at home.
“This really helps us out,” Abbott said. “If they realize that your kids need an extra hand in an area, they are all about teaching you what you need to know to help your child.”
Screenings at the center are free, but staff members say that the service remains underutilized by parents.
The Child Development Center screens more pre-kindergarten age children than infant and toddlers, the center hopes to increase infant and toddler screening.
The tests tend to be most common with older children; the majority of parents take their children in for screenings prior to entering preschool or kindergarten. However, staffers at the center say bringing your child in from birth to 3 years old can be just as important.
Rheannon de Castro, business manager for Region II, said that early identification of developmental delays can make a positive lifelong impact.
“If those delays are found early enough in the screening process, and our intervention specialists and service coordinators work with (the children) regularly, a lot of those delays can be corrected,” de Castro said. “This means that fewer children will enter kindergarten without the need for special services.”
Region II screens approximately 550 children in both Johnson and Sheridan counties - only 175 of those children are between the ages of birth to 3 years old.
De Castro said that number is smaller than they would like, adding that the center’s staff members would love to see an increase of 20-25 children in the age group.
“In a perfect world, we would like to be able to screen all children,” de Castro said. “Research shows that 10 percent of children have a developmental delay.”
Even once is not enough. Optimally, a child should at least be screened once before they turn 2 and again before their fifth birthday. However, Harper said that the center encourages parents to bring in their children as many times as they would like.
Bringing your child in for screenings can seem intimidating - Abbott knows that well.
She’s taken her five children in for screenings more than a dozen times, and she still gets nervous every time she takes one of them.
“It’s nerve racking for any parent to see some type of critical evaluation of your child and to tell you if they are doing well or not,” Abbott said.
That’s not lost on the staff at the center.
They do not want these processes to be intimidating, de Castro said. Identifying delays should be about receiving assistance to fix potential learning or physical disabilities. Helping to diagnose a problem now can help a child get a better start in life.
And for Abbott, that’s all that matters.
“For me, it’s probably just making sure I can give them the best head start possible,” Abbott said.
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Information from: The Sheridan (Wyo.) Press, https://www.thesheridanpress.com/
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