|  | Family Health | Childrens Health

Child Developmental Assessment Tools

There are numerous child developmental assessment tools designed to evaluate your child's physical and mental development; many of them are based on simple questionnaires and screenings, such as vision or motor skill testing. While assessment tools are useful in identifying developmental delays, further testing is needed to diagnose any developmental lags uncovered by such tests.

  1. Ages and Stages

    • The Ages and Stages Questionnaire is used for children from birth to 5 years to determine social, fine and gross motor skills. Caregivers and parents can administer this test, and a professional, such as your child's pediatrician, can score it. This test consists of several questionnaires specifically designed for each age level and can diagnose whether your child's development is behind schedule, on target or advanced. It also shows if -- and what type of -- additional testing may be needed, and tells you which skills need to be worked on.

    Pediatric Symptom Checklist

    • The Pediatric Symptom Checklist, designed for children ages 4 to 16, is scored based on how many times the child answers "never," "sometimes" or "often." It assesses emotional and social development and disorders. While a parent or caregiver can do a portion of the questionnaire, the bulk of it, as well as the scoring, must be done by a trained professional with experience in psychology.

    Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning

    • Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning is a tool that preschool and kindergarten teachers can use to assess a child's motor, speech, cognitive, social and emotional skills. A parent fills out a questionnaire, but a trained professional handles most of the testing. While this assessment can show if and where a child has developmental delays, it's used primarily to rank where a child stands developmentally when compared with national standards.

    The Ounce Scale

    • With numerous tests and assessment tools available, you may wonder how developers set the standards for high, normal and below-average development. One such barometer is an assessment called the Ounce Scale. This test includes several small evaluations based on age as well as six defined areas of development, including motor, social and emotional skills. Information gathered is then summarized and used to set national standards for many assessment tools and tests.

Childrens Health - Related Articles