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Screening Tools to Assess Your Child's Health

Parenting is hard work. Children do not come with instructions, and parents often want to know if they are doing their job right. Screening tools can aid in the diagnosis of a health problem. The easiest screening tools available for parents are meant to help identify vision, hearing, developmental and behavioral issues that may arise.

  1. Vision Health

    • Observing a child seeing and watching things is crucial.

      Several tools can be used at home for vision testing. The most important thing is to observe the child. Does she tilt her head? Can she successfully grasp at toys? Does she squint? Both of the eyes should move together in synchronization, even when a child is tired. The eyes should not wander; they should focus on something. A penlight can be used to allow the child to follow the light. The eyes should remain focused on the light wherever it moves. The head should not tilt in order to see and the child should not squint. Covering each eye separately is important to determine if a problem exists in one eye but not the other.

    Hearing Health

    • Hearing testing requires cooperation from the child.

      Hearing assessment requires some cooperation from the child. For visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA), the child is trained to look toward the sound source in order to localize it. If the child presents a correct response, he is then rewarded. With conditioned play audiometry (CPA), the child performs an action when a sound is heard, such as raising a hand, stacking a block or placing a ring onto a cone. Both of these methods can be used with children aged seven months to three years. However, the CPA method is ideal for children aged three years and older.

    Developmental and Behavioral Health

    • Developmental tools help identify various concerns.

      Developmental and behavioral health evaluates the child's language skills, articulation, motor skills and possible emotional stress. Screening for developmental delays should be done regularly from birth to age six years. Kits and questionnaires can be purchased to complete at home. Parents observe their children and answer questions regarding specific age-related milestones. According to the First Signs website, "screening tools are available to identify a variety of concerns from broad-based developmental disorders to autism spectrum disorders to other related disorders, such as attention deficit disorder and bipolar disorder." The most important thing is to observe the child's behavior.

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