SCREENINGS AND ASSESSMENTS
ABOUT THE NECTAC SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS
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What do you do if you have concerns about the development of your child, or a child in your program? How can you find out if any intervention is needed and, if so, what kind of screenings and/or assessments can be administered and by whom?
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In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on the mental health and social and behavioral developmental needs of very young children. In response, state administrators and local providers of early intervention and preschool programs have worked to strengthen their screening and assessment of children’s social and emotional development. They have sought guidance from technical assistance providers, including the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) about appropriate tools to use. The screening instruments include both those that address multiple developmental domains as well as those that focus on the social-emotional developmental domain. The screening instruments are further sub-divided into those which must be administered by professionals and those that may be completed by family members or other caregivers. The information for each includes a description, the age range for which the instrument was validated, the time to administer, the scoring procedure, psychometric properties, and requirements for administrators. Publisher contact or source of more information can also be provided.
Besides the official screening instruments, FREE on-line tests are available for parents to administer to their children at Lexercise.
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The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised (M-CHAT-R) is a screener that will ask a series of 20 questions about your child’s behavior. It's intended for toddlers between 16 and 30 months of age. The results will let you know if a further evaluation may be needed. You can use the results of the screener to discuss any concerns that you may have with your child’s healthcare provider.
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PA's Promise for Children has a Developmental Milestones check list as well as an Early Learning GPS for determining your child's development.
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From birth-age 3, free early intervention screening is available in York and Adams counties in PA through the DHS and the York/Adams MH-IDD Program. Downloadable forms and Resource Guide can be found here.
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The PA Department of Education provides Early Intervention information, services, forms and resources.
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Early Intervention Specialists provide services to children ages 0-3 in Allegheny, Butler, Cumberland/Perry, Dauphin, Washington, and York/Adams Counties. They also have a list of resources for further information.
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Early Intervention services are also available from Connections in York County, PA. (This service provider is currently under development, however.)
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In Lancaster County, early intervention resources may be found in the Children and Families Service Directory.
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In CA, the federally funded Early Start Program offers early intervention services.
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For complicated situations, we recommend the PNP Center in Texas, which has been featured on the Dr. Phil Show.
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If none of the above services will work for you, and you wish a professional assessment consultation, please contact us via phone (send text or leave voice message) or email, using our information below.
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THANKS FOR VISITING!
Bluebird Child Development Services