## ALL ABOUT

# Developmental Screening

### What is developmental screening?

- Developmental screening is a short, easy-to-complete formal test of young children’s developmental skills, such as motor, cognitive, language, and social-emotional skills.
- A developmental screener reliably distinguishes children who should be referred for further, more comprehensive assessment from those who don’t need to be referred.

- Doctors, nurses, and other early childhood professionals use developmental screening to tell if children are on track with developing basic skills, or if they might have delays.

- A developmental screening tool, such as ASQ®-3, is a research-based instrument that asks questions about a child’s development and gathers information.

- All children should receive developmental screenings.

### Why do we need developmental screening?

- Before the age of 18, about one in seven children in the United States will experience a developmental disability or a disabling behavioral problem.

- Before the age of five, as many as one in four U.S. children are at risk for developmental delays or disabilities.

- **Fewer than 50% of these children are identified before starting school.**

- Identifying delays early and providing help before age five produces effects **that significantly exceed those of services provided to school-age children.**

### Key words used in developmental screening

- *Surveillance: The monitoring or tracking of children’s developmental progress* over time
- *Referral: The action taken by screening personnel to connect families with the* appropriate service for their child
- *Developmental milestones: A set of functional skills and behaviors that are* key markers of child development

1 Bricker, Macy, Squires & Marks. (2013). Developmental Screening in Your Community. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing.  
2 Center for Disease Control. Developmental Screening Fact Sheet. [http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/developmentalscreening.pdf](http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/developmentalscreening.pdf)  
3 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Education. (2014). Birth to Five! Watch Me Thrive: An Early Care and Education Provider’s Guide for Developmental and Behavioral Screening. [https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ecd/ece_providers_guide_march2014.pdf](https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ecd/ece_providers_guide_march2014.pdf)  
4 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Education. Birth to Five! Watch Me Thrive. [http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ecd/](http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ecd/) watch-me-thrive  
5 ZERO TO THREE (2012). Achieving the Promise of a Bright Future. [http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/policy-toolkit/devscreensingmar5.pd](http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/policy-toolkit/devscreensingmar5.pd)