The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recently updated their checklists for developmental milestones for young children. The purpose of the milestones is to guide both parents and professionals in identifying children who may be at risk for developmental delays. This information opens the door for further assessment and early intervention services if needed to close the developmental gaps. This information begins a critical conversation with the pediatricians, educators, and therapists who can assist parents in addressing these concerns before the child is school age. Early intervention often sets the stage for success in closing the gap with a child’s peers of the same age.
While lowering standards may decrease the number of children with delays, it will increase the number of actual delays because these issues will not be addressed until much later. This type of logic will increase the “wait and see” approach instead of immediately addressing the red flags.
Below are a few examples:
*Crawling as a developmental milestone has been removed.
This one is genuinely concerning because crawling affects everything from gross motor development to sensory processing to visual and cognitive skills. Babies who crawl have greater body awareness and confidence in movement. Crawling encourages early problem solving as they explore their environment.
* Walking was moved from 12 months to 15 months.
* Rolling was moved from 4 months to 6 months.
* Speaking first words was moved from 12 to 15 months.
* A two- year old is only expected to use two words together rather than 2-4 word sentences.
* A three year old is no longer expected to use full sentences.
Every child develops a little differently but often end up at the same destination; some simply arrive earlier than others. However, lowering expectations to cater to a more diverse population is not helpful to anyone. Children who lag behind deserve to be identified early so they have an opportunity to develop those skills and milestones. Finally, parents deserve to have clarity and unbiased information as they make decisions for their children’s well being. These revised milestones are now based on the 75th percentile instead of the previous 50th percentile. These milestones should be tweaked by the actual educators and therapists actively working in the field as opposed to professionals in ivory towers who are far removed from the day to day interactions with children and families.
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