It is important to follow and evaluate children developmentally, whether they are healthy or have developmental problems. Details that go unnoticed by parents can sometimes be developmentally important. If the child is developmentally behind or ahead of his or her peers, it is necessary to direct the parents as well as the child and to provide them with the right guidance.
There are development tests applied for this purpose. To administer a developmental test to a child, there is no obligation to be developmentally at risk. A development test can also be done in order to follow the general developmental status and to determine the level of knowledge and skill gained.
However, the development test should not be confused with the intelligence test. The developmental test can be applied after birth and in the following processes, but the child must be at least 6 years old in order to perform the intelligence test.
In the developmental test, children are evaluated in 5 main developmental areas.
Mental development
Social-emotional development
Motor development
Language development
Self-care development
Items related to self-care development are tried to be filled by asking the child’s mother or father. however, in other areas of development, one-to-one application is made with the child.
During this application, first the child’s calendar age is calculated as days/months/years and it is tested whether he/she can perform the skills expected from him/her in this interval.
During the application, the tester does not weigh or guide the child. He simply asks questions or gives instructions and observes whether the child behaves in accordance with these instructions.
Preferably, neither mother or father is allowed in during the test. Because parents tend to answer the questions asked of children before they do or help the child find the answer.
However, if the child is anxious and this level of anxiety will affect the test performance, one of the parents can be taken in. Parents are instructed not to interfere with the child’s answers or silence, and not to applaud when he gives the correct answer. The parents are seated in such a way that they cannot make eye contact with the child.
Since the purpose of the developmental test is to determine whether the child has the skills expected from him in his own age range, the test is not taken to further stages. For example, if a 4-year-old child is given a developmental test and he/she is successful in all 4-year-old skills, 5-6-year-old questions cannot be judged on how advanced he/she is compared to his/her peers.
If parents think that their children have a more advanced development than their peers, they should wait for the age of 6 and have an intelligence test.
If, as a result of the development test, the child is found to be behind his peers in one or more areas of development, he can be directed to different areas for a detailed developmental screening.
For example, a child who is at the level of his peers in all areas of development but lags behind in language development can be referred to audiology for hearing screening.
Or a child who cannot exhibit the skills expected from him in the field of physical development can be referred to orthopedics for detailed screening.
Progress test can be repeated every 6 months. If the child is followed up according to the test result, the test is not repeated every month, but the skills he has gained and the pace of development are followed every month during the control. If necessary, a home support program is prepared for the family.
