What is Development?
Childhood begins from fertilization and continues until the completion of adolescence. Growth and development are two concepts that become intertwined in childhood. When asked about the child's development, families first think of height and weight information. However, childhood is a period of rapid change in every field. Events related to both growth and development, such as the growth of cells, head and body, increase in muscle strength, social communication, perception, speech, behavior and adaptation, occur together.
Growth, mostly the change in the body's dimensions such as height and weight. explains, and development explains the change in behavior and skills. Therefore, when the child's development is discussed, first of all, his/her skills and behaviors in social, movement, language, speech, mental and adaptive areas are in question.
How is My Baby's Development Evaluated?(What is Neurodevelopmental Evaluation?) :
Babies have skills that begin in the womb and continue to acquire with the first days of life. For example, a baby is expected to react to sounds as soon as it is born, or it should look carefully at its mother's face and even start laughing within the first month or two. A simple evaluation is made by checking these skills, called developmental stages, according to the expected age. Infancy is a period in which mental, sensory, movement, language and social development occur rapidly. For this reason, it is important to check the age appropriateness of the baby's skills in these areas as early as possible. Interviews that check the developmental stages as well as the daily living routine of the mother and the baby, the quality of the relationship between the mother and the baby, the mental health of the mother, and whether the environment in which the baby grows up is supportive of its development are defined as "neurodevelopmental evaluation". This evaluation consists of meeting with the parents, observing their reactions to the auditory, visual and tactile materials presented to the baby, and communicating using games and toys as the baby gets older; It does not require blood, urine tests or imaging procedures. If a developmental problem is considered after the evaluation, the examinations in question are planned by the physician for diagnosis.
During developmental evaluation, standard tools are used to check the developmental skills of babies. Many developmental assessment tools with different names are used around the world, and almost all of these tools have similar content because developmental skills are related to brain development, and in the first 3 years of age, the brain progresses through a similar process in every baby in the world. A Spanish baby starts to lie down between 3-5 months, as does a Turkish baby. Every baby in the world is expected to use their first words between the ages of one and a half. The most frequently used scales during developmental evaluation in our country are Denver II Developmental Screening Test (DGTT-II), Bayley Developmental Scale for Babies-III (BBGÖ III) and Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory (AGTE).
Is it necessary to perform a developmental evaluation on every baby?
Developmental evaluation of every child is required every year from birth until they start school. During the follow-up of healthy children, those who are defined as "Risky Babies" can be evaluated more frequently. Premature birth and/or very low birth weight, low weight gain since birth, long hospital stay, chronic and severe diseases, hearing and visual impairment, twin-triplet births, maternal diabetes, thyroid, depression, parent's alcohol and drug use Risk factors include child abuse, poverty, being a parent at a very young or very old age, single parenthood, lack of adequate social support, insufficient knowledge of the parents on child development, and not providing a suitable growing environment for the baby. Of course, not every baby born prematurely has any problems with development, but developmental checks of "risky babies" are more important because they are at greater risk than babies born on time. Developmental evaluation must be performed for early diagnosis, treatment and early support programs.
How often should I take him for a developmental evaluation?
After the age of two, even if the child has no health problems. It is necessary to check the development even at intervals of 6 months to 1 year. Depending on the results of the developmental evaluation in regular checks both in the first 2 years and in the following years, the frequency of evaluation can be increased to every 3 months because the baby The development of children is very rapid, especially in the first 3 years of age, and it may be necessary to use time carefully in support.
Developmental evaluation does not necessarily depend on the existence of a problem. The main goal is to create protective measures that allow the baby to live a healthy life, just like the vaccination program. However, many diseases and the presence of an environment that is not suitable for the baby's development first show their first symptoms with deterioration in development. For this reason, evaluation is also carried out for early diagnosis purposes.
Tests Applied
Denver 2 (Developmental Screening Inventory) evaluates the development, personal and social skills of 0-6 year old children. It is a test that examines the motor and mental development of children by measuring fine hand movements, large body movements and language functions.
Geçta (Gazi Early Childhood Development Test) It will be able to evaluate the development of 0–72 months Turkish children in detail, in organizing their educational experiences and in developing children's development. It is a development assessment tool that can be used in the early diagnosis of delays.
Agte (Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory) This test is an evaluation tool that provides in-depth and systematic information about the development of babies and children. It is a test applied by asking the family questions about the child's development.
Bayley-3 Developmental Assessment Scale
Wisc-R intelligence test: It is an intelligence test applied for the 6-16 age group. This test is an individually administered test. The application takes 1 - 2 hours. In the test, the questions of each subtest are directed to the child in accordance with the test instructions and the child is asked to answer the questions asked. Answers are recorded in the printed form.
GOBDÖ-2-TV, Gilliam Autistic Disorder Rating Scale-2 Screening individuals with autistic disorders, diagnosing individuals with autistic disorders, evaluating severe behavioral problems, determining/evaluating behavioral progress, individualized Education. It is used to determine the goals for the plan (BEP). It can be applied to individuals ranging in age from 3 to 23.
Metropolitan School Maturity Test: This test is designed to measure the characteristics and achievements of school beginners that will ensure that they are prepared to understand first grade instructions. has been prepared. The test is used to examine children at the end of kindergarten or the beginning of first grade. The test is applied to children aged 5,6 -6. (40min)
Marmara Primary Education Readiness Scale: It is a scale developed and standardized specifically for Turkish children in order to determine the level of readiness of 60-78 month old children for primary education in all developmental areas and basic skills. (45min)
Gestural Development Figures Test: It is applied to children between the ages of 2-6. It consists of 9 shapes arranged from easy to difficult. The items are arranged according to each age level. Developmental age is determined with this test.
Goodenough-Harris Human Drawing Test: It is a test that aims to establish a connection about the child's intelligence through the drawings made by the child. It is a test used to measure mental development in individuals. (4-11 years old)
Catell 2A Intelligence Test (Catell Culture Free intelligence Test): It is a 25-minute intelligence test administered to children between the ages of 7.6-14. It determines the function of intelligence in the abstract field.
Benton Visual Memory Test: It gives information about long-term and short-term memory applied to children aged 8 and over.
Peabody Word Comprehension Test: The test consists of 100 pictures. The child is asked to look at 100 pictures and identify them correctly. The child's receptive language development age is determined by the number of correct answers. (Between 3-10 years old)
Frostig Developmental Visual Perception Test: It is applied to children between the ages of 4 years and 6 months and 7 years and 11 months, and measures attention, visual perception and hand-eye coordination levels. (45 minutes)
Porteus Maze: It is a test that measures the performance part of intelligence applied to children between the ages of 5,6 and 14. It consists of 12 mazes.
Bender Gestalt: It is a visual motor perception and performance test consisting of 9 simple drawings. The age limit is between 5 years 6 months and 11 years. (Gives information about visual perception problems, distraction, neurological problems, learning disabilities)
Burdon Attention Test: It is used to measure the attention power of a child over the age of 10.
HAT (Hacettepe Articulation Test) delay in the development of speech sounds acquisition. It is used in children with visual acuity.
PLS-4 (Preschool Language Scale) It is used for children between the ages of 1-6 in terms of receptive language and if It measures the age of generative language.
M CHAT is used to identify children at risk of being diagnosed with autism from the age of 18 months.
HÜOÇG (Hacettepe University School Age Development Assessment Checklist)
Stress Level Scale (it is a test applied to primary, secondary and high school children, determining the level of stress.)
Early Intervention Programs;
ETEÇOM (interaction-based early childhood education). intervention program); We work with children and parents with different conditions such as Down Syndrome, Autistic disorder (Autism), Cerebral Palsy, Mental Disability, Delayed Language and Speech, Developmental Delay of unknown cause, Premature/Low Birth Weight.
DİKDE – PARE
Dictation is a language and speech training method applied to children with speech delay. It starts to be applied to children who are considered to have language delay and listening disorders, starting from 18 months.
It is primarily applied to children with speech delay. It can be applied as a method to support language development starting from 18 months in children with language delay and listening disorders, as well as in children with developmental delay, lack of stimulation, pervasive developmental disorder spectrum diseases and neurological-genetic-metabolic diseases.
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