We’ve had a lot of questions about the Developmental Checklist we have posted on our website.
If You Aren’t Sure If Your Child Needs Therapy
We have many parents who call us who are not really sure if their kiddo needs therapy. Sometimes their pediatrician has recommended it, but they’re not sure exactly why. That’s exactly why we created this checklist. (If you go to our website homepage, you’ll see the link for the checklist right up front.)
What Age Group The Checklist is For
The checklist is approximately for ages 1-6. When you click the link it will have you enter the birth date of your child, so that you can know exactly where they fall on the list. However, if you have a 7 or 8-year-old and you want to use this checklist for them, you can just change their birthdate so that it will give you the milestones for a 6-year-old. You can still use this resource with an older child, but you will have to adjust their age for the program.
What Areas of Development The Checklist Covers
The checklist will look at 4 different areas: speech and language, occupational therapy (fine and gross motor skills), physical therapy (Are you able to stand on one foot? Can you ride a bike?), and sensory. In other words, the list covers functional activities, and you will indicate whether your child is doing those things, or not.
Answer The Questions Honestly
It is critical that you answer these questions honestly. This is just between you and the computer. No one else will see this! And the only way to get an accurate picture of how your child is doing is to answer honestly. Also, consider filling out the checklist based on a bad day, not a good day. This will give you a better picture of the reality of what your child is able to do. Pick your most challenging days.
What Happens After Completing The Checklist
Once you are finished, the checklist will give you your results. It may tell you that your child is off in a few areas, so work on some of these things over the next 90 days, then redo the checklist to see if they’ve improved. If in 90 days those areas have not improved, the program will suggest that you reach out for treatment in OT, PT, speech, or sensory. Sensory issues are primarily addressed through PT.
Once this happens, the program will send an email to our main office. Our office will reach out to you with a form letter that they will email to you, just to say that we’d be more than happy to help you with anything if you would like us to. If you have an area that was highlighted on the checklist, we are more than happy to go into more detail with you about it. Often this leads to an evaluation or a virtual screening. Screenings are done by clinicians, and at the end of the screening, they will let you know what they think based on what they see. Some families opt to skip the screening and go straight into an evaluation so that they can get the data that an all-encompassing evaluation will give us. And then once an evaluation is done, we sit down with you and go through all of it.
Insurance Info
Before we go from screening to the evaluation we verify your insurance benefits and let you know what your coverage is going to be, and what you can expect on that end of things.
Why Some Parents Are Concerned
With so many families at home right now, we’ve heard from many parents who are deeply concerned about their kiddos who seem to be behind their peers in running, climbing, or balance, or in writing, attention, distractibility, etc. Or maybe they speak perfectly well, but they don’t have social skills. These are some of the areas that our parents are identifying with their kids.
Your Next Step
Our checklist is designed to make it easy for you to see if there is an issue, and what exactly that issue might be. Please feel free to use it, and you can use it more than once! And remember, we are more than happy to help you out with whatever you need.
