### Sharing Screening Results

It’s important to always share ASQ ® :SE-2 results—parents will be interested in learning about their child’s social-emotional development. Use these practical tips to prepare carefully for these discussions, especially when you will be sharing results that indicate a child needs further assessment.

1. **Be timely.** Provide screening follow-up information as quickly as you can.

2. **Show you value confidentiality.** Be sure the setting for your conversation is private and assure parents that what you share is confidential.

3. **Use the ASQ:SE-2 Parent Conference Sheet.** This sheet will help you organize your thoughts and take notes during the conversation or parent conference. (The sheet is included in the ASQ:SE-2 Starter Kit and the Social-Emotional Screening Toolkit.)

4. **Restate the purpose of screening.** Remind parents that screening is a check of their child’s social-emotional development. ASQ:SE-2 only shows that their child may need further assessment and does not diagnose their child.

5. **Listen to the family.** Give parents an opportunity to express their perceptions of their child. Be open to new ideas and viewpoints.

6. **Highlight the positives.** Review the ASQ:SE-2 results, emphasizing the child’s social-emotional strengths. (Hint: All items with a score of 0 points are strengths for the child.) Also focus on parents’ current skills and resources.

7. **Explain the child’s results.** Be precise—use language such as well above the cutoff, close to the cutoff, and below the cutoff when explaining the child’s scores.

8. **Be sensitive and positive.** Avoid using terms like fail, normal, or abnormal.

9. **Talk about outside influences.** Discuss anything that may have affected the child’s scores. This could include the child’s health history or specific cultural or environmental factors.

10. **Examine concerns together.** Discuss concerns, and provide specific, objective examples of children’s social-emotional development whenever possible.

11. **Talk about next steps in social-emotional development.** If the child’s social-emotional development is on track, talk with parents about what skills and behaviors to expect next. Provide learning activities that parents can try at home. Let them know they’ll have an opportunity to discuss their child’s development again in the future. (Rescreen in 6–12 months if possible.)

12. **Offer guidance.** Provide information about social-emotional development. If a child’s score is above the cutoff or if the parent has concerns, provide information about community resources and referral options.

Adapted from ASQ:SE-2™ User’s Guide by Jane Squires, Ph.D., Diane Bricker, Ph.D., & Elizabeth Twombly, M.S. © 2015 Brookes Publishing. All rights reserved.