Understanding the process of early childhood developmental evaluations: Part 7
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EmailBecome familiar with early childhood developmental evaluation, ways to request an evaluation for your child, how the process works, following up after the evaluation, and what to do when you have future concerns.
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 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 this Michigan State University Extension article, we focus on what to do when a child meets developmental expectations during an evaluation but concerns return in the future or you begin to have new concerns. After having an evaluation completed, you may find that your child is right on track with their milestones or only slightly behind. If a child is not eligible for services via the classroom or home visitation, the evaluator will likely give you some ideas and activities to help grow your child’s skills at home. Often, if you follow their advice, the child will move forward in their development and do quite well. However, it may be that things do not go as well as you might expect. If you aren’t sure about new concerns, complete an online Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) to see how your child is doing. In the State of Michigan, you can complete the ASQ on the Help Me Grow Michigan website or read more about the ASQ on the Ages and Stages website.
When a child does not continue gaining developmental skills, you may ask for a new evaluation. Perhaps your child’s vocabulary does not grow, or they don’t combine more words together in a sentence. Or it may be that they are not holding objects the way the evaluator described and they haven’t corrected their grip even when you practice. Alternatively, they may not use words consistently to help make their wants known or children may even regress in their use of language. No matter what new concern you have, you have the right to a new evaluation. Visit the Michigan Alliance for Families website to learn more about the rights you have for your child and family.
In many cases, the evaluator may give you a timeline for when to reach out for any follow-up to your concerns. Often, the expectation is to wait up to 60 days before calling for a new evaluation; however, the best idea is to wait no longer than 45 days if you don’t see your child’s development improving. It can take time to get a new evaluation scheduled, up to 14 days in many cases, so it is important to make the call to your local evaluation specialist before too much time passes.
If you still have concerns, or need a follow-up evaluation, locate the original evaluation report. You will find a phone number and email for the same organization, and you will want to the report for reference. Share with the provider the original evaluation date, how the child scored in each developmental category and your original concerns, as well as the new concerns that have come up in the past 45 days. Often, the original provider will be the one to schedule and complete a new evaluation. Keep in mind, you do have the right to ask for a new evaluator if the original professional was not a great fit for your family.
For more information, read additional articles in this series:
- Understanding the process of early childhood developmental evaluations: Part 1
- Understanding the process of early childhood developmental evaluations: Part 2
- Understanding the process of early childhood developmental evaluations: Part 3
- Understanding the process of early childhood developmental evaluations: Part 4
- Understanding the process of early childhood developmental evaluations: Part 5
- Understanding the process of early childhood developmental evaluations: Part 6
You can also learn more about child development, parent and caregiver webinars and family activities by visiting the MSU Extension Child and Family Development webpage and the MI Stronger Family Facebook page.
