Assessment and Early Intervention
The process of assessment should always be viewed as the first step in a potential intervention process.
-McCann & Yarbrough, "Snapshots: Incorporating Comprehensive Developmental Screening Into Programs and Services for Young Children"
For the purpose of this Discussion, imagine that you are a licensing representative for several early childhood programs in an urban community. Part of your professional responsibilities include conducting regular visits to early childhood centers and family child care homes to make sure that licensing standards are being met. On a recent visit to a child care center, one of the teachers in the classroom expresses the following concern:
Jose is an 18-month-old in our class. Since he joined our program two months ago, both my co-teacher and I have noticed that he that does not seem to interact with individuals or objects in ways I would expect of a child his age. For instance, he rarely plays with toys and seems resistant to frequent touches and affection offered by either of us. I raised my concerns to his parents, asking them if they have noticed anything similar in their home environment. Their response was "he seems pretty typical to us, let's just wait and see."
Consider the information on developmental screening presented in the article "Snapshots: Incorporating Developmental Screening into Programs and Services for Young Children," and the DVD segment "Screening and Assessment".
Post your response to the following question:
How you might respond to this early childhood teacher with regard to steps in the assessment process that should be taken to better understand Jose and foster growth and learning at this point in time?