Infant/Toddler Screening and Assessment

Catalog description

Prerequisite: 30 hours of hands-on, direct experiences with infants and toddlers or consent of Director of Infant Specialist Program. This course takes a relationship-based developmental approach to observation, screening, and assessment of children from birth through age three. Assessment is viewed as an integral part of the intervention process and as a collaboration between parents and providers. Students are trained to focus on underlying developmental processes as well as the appearance of individual milestones in cognitive, social/emotional, communication, and sensory and motor development. Students are guided in partnering with parents to assess the child’s strengths and challenges to development, and to identify the family’s priorities for services. Selected screening tools, standardized tests, and criterion-referenced instruments are reviewed. Students receive introductory training in one screening and one assessment tool, including administration, interpretation, referral, and recommendations for developmental intervention. The rationale and practices for screening, referral, and assessment in various infant/toddler settings (e.g., child care, Early Head Start, early intervention) are examined.