Child Development

From the early stages of infancy, children are constantly growing and learning new skills for interacting with the world. These milestones are often celebrated from first word to first food to first steps. The progression of these physical, emotional, and cognitive skills is referred to as childhood development. Though every child develops at their own pace, there is a typical pattern and average age for each of these milestones to develop. 

These skills are important for the child to gain independence, understand the world and engage with family and peers. Pediatric health care professionals will often screen a child’s development with average age norms to assess if a child would benefit from increased focus on the skills including referral to physical therapy, occupational therapy or speech therapy if necessary. The clinical therapy staff can assist the child and family in progressing physical motor skills, feeding and speech and language development to maximize a child’s functional independence and interaction with others and environment at age appropriate level.

Child Development Screening

This screening tool is modified from the versions used by the medical and clinical professional staff for educational purposes for parents. This screening tool is not to be used to diagnose or imply any developmental delay in any child. Every child develops at their own pace, and every milestone has a range of appropriate age to master with average age represented in screening tools. This screening tool is designed to help parents understand typical developmental milestones and what skills their child currently should or will be working on. Any concerns you may have about your child’s development or skills noted on the screening tool for further progress, please address with you pediatrician and/or one of our clinical staff.