PEDS: Developmental Milestones Measurements For Children 0-8 Years

PEDS: Developmental Milestones Measurements For Children 0-8 Years

Co-Author Frances Page Glascoe, Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Editor, Newsletter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics A new measure called PEDS:Developmental Milestones (PEDS:DM) for children 0 - 8 years is now available for parents and professionals. The Screening Level version is in wide use by pediatricians but the PEDS:DM also has an Assessment Level version helpful for child-find, early intervention programs, and NICU follow-up. The PEDS:DM assesses each developmental domain: gross motor, fine motor, expressive language, receptive language, self-help, social-emotional, and for older children reading and math skills. It offers cutoffs and age-equivalent scores, percentage of delay (or percentage of skills mastered) in each domain. Its assessment booklets are designed for re-use on a single child to facilitate longitudinal monitoring and progress tracking. The booklets can also be used in mail-out initiatives and have a reporting grid useful for explaining results to parents and recording developmental strengths and weaknesses. The Assessment Level version takes about 20 minutes to complete. The Screening Level version takes about 5 minutes. The PEDS:DM also includes a range of other helpful measures such as the Modified Checklist of Autism in Toddlers, the Brigance Parent-Child Interactions Scale, measures of psychosocial risk, etc. The PEDS:DM was standardized on more than 1600 children in North America, has proven accuracy and validity, and its readability is at the high first grade level-so most parents can readily understand and respond. That said, the PEDS:DM can also be directly administered to children. Additional information including case examples and training slide shows can be found online at www.pedstest.com/dm.