Health and Developmental Screenings

The purpose for dental screenings provided by the school readiness program is to identify untreated dental disease in children and provide appropriate referrals for additional care. During the screening process, the children are provided with valuable dental health education.

Developmental screenings assist parents and district staff in identifying children who should receive referrals and/or resources for more extensive assessment or diagnosis for possible developmental delays. The parent-administered developmental screening surveys utilized by the School Readiness program include the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) and Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ SE and ASQ-3). Identification of developmental delays at an earlier age has the potential for improving a child’s future health and well-being.

Early childhood development refers to the skills and milestones that children are expected to reach by the age of five. As a child develops they become increasingly more able to perform additional complex skills. Developing milestones of the young child are age-specific tasks that focus on five particular areas.

Communication: Use of language skills such as, use of simple sentences and understanding what is said.

Gross Motor: Movement of large muscle groups and skills that include running, throwing, and balance to name a few.

Fine Motor: Control of smaller movements of hands and fingers. Examples of fine motor skills include the use of a pencil, tracing, and managing buttons.

Problem Solving: Looks at thinking and reasoning skills. How a child plays with toys and solves problems.

Social: Interactions with others including family and friends, cooperation, and responses to feelings.

The School Readiness Program offers free developmental screenings for any family within our district boundaries that can assist parents and caregivers in determining the needs of children.

Hearing Screenings

The School Readiness Program provides hearing screenings. Hearing loss interferes with a young child’s ability to communicate and learn. The screenings are performed by a School Nurse, with a School Audiometrist certificate, using conditioned play audiometry (CPA). The CPA screening method conditions a child to perform a task with each sound heard, it is a pass/fail method. A parent of a child that fails the screening is encouraged to obtain further comprehensive care.

One of the many risks of hearing loss is parental, caregiver and/or health care provider concern related to a child’s hearing, speech, and language. Also, a developmental delay based on observation and/or standardized developmental screening results raises suspicion of hearing loss. A child falling into an area of concern benefits from having their hearing screened.

Vision Screenings

Vision screening is available through the school readiness program. Since, a young child usually does not report problems of vision to their parent; vision screening provides a valuable opportunity to identify children who would profit from a thorough eye examination. Early detection of vision problems has educational benefits for your child.

The School Readiness nurse uses a chart that shows various symbols at a 10 foot distance. The child is provided the opportunity to verbalize or match the symbol to determine their visual acuity. Keep in mind; screenings do not substitute for additional comprehensive care.

Nutritional screenings are achieved by calculating the Body Mass Index (BMI) for every child. When a child’s height and weight is known, it is possible to calculate the Body Mass Index (also called BMI). BMI is a helpful screening tool as an indicator of nutritional status and is the recommended method of screening children for underweight and overweight. If your child is determined to be underweight or overweight a referral to your regular doctor or health care provider to evaluate your child’s weight status and ask for advice about good nutrition and physical activity will be recommended.

The development of speech and language starts in infancy and each child varies in their progression of development. Speech and language are important for learning and communicating. Early intervention of speech problems will help promote a child’s development and interpersonal relationships.

The School Readiness program will provide resources and activities for children with speech and language skills below the “typical range.” In addition, a child will be referred to their primary care physician for further evaluation to identify possible health conditions and implementation of any further treatment plan.

The links below will provide insight into the typically developing child’s speech and language skills.

ASHA SPEECH DEVELOPMENT

NIH VOICE, SPEECH, AND LANGUAGE