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Evaluations

Are you concerned about your child?

Do you worry that your child may not be meeting his/her early developmental milestones in speech or language development, sensory or fine motor abilities, gross motor abilities, play skills, or self-help skills?

Are you concerned about the number of words that he/she uses?

Do you wonder why your child is not talking as much as his/her peers and may have a speech delay?

Are you worried that your baby is not yet crawling, sitting up, walking, or responding to their name?

Do you question if your child needs an Early Intervention evaluation?

How do I get an Early Intervention (EI) evaluation for my child?

Each child is different and every child develops at his or her own pace.

If your child has not reached the milestones listed below, you should discuss this with your pediatrician. Your child’s rate of development may be perfectly normal for him or her, or your doctor may have shared some concerns about your child’s development. You may decide that your child should be evaluated.

Evaluations of children birth through 3 years of age who reside in Nassau County may be provided though the Nassau County Early Intervention Program. Evaluations are performed in your own home at no cost to you, regardless of your income, race, religious or cultural beliefs. The evaluation will include an examination of your child’s skills in each of five critical developmental domains:

communication skills (includes language comprehension and expression)

cognitive skills (thinking and reasoning skills)

adaptive skills (self-help)

physical skills (gross motor and fine motor skills)

social emotional skills (how your child relates to others)

Evaluators are professionals who are experienced in evaluating very young children. An evaluation of your child’s skills in each of these five domains creates a profile of your child’s strengths and weaknesses, and helps to determine if your child has significant delays in one or more of these five areas.  If your child demonstrates a significant delay in one or more developmental domains, he or she may be eligible for services through the Nassau County Early Intervention Program.

Checklist for Growing Children

Here’s what you can expect your child to be doing from birth to age three. If you have concerns about your baby’s development, and wish to discuss those concerns, feel free to call us at Children’s Speech and Rehabilitation Therapy to discuss your child’s development and your concerns.

  • turn their heads toward bright colors and lights
  • move both eyes in the same direction together
  • recognize bottle or breast
  • respond to their mother’s voice
  • make cooing sounds
  • bring their hands together
  • wiggle and kick with arms and legs
  • lift head when on stomach
  • become quiet in response to sound, especially to speech
  • smile
  • follow moving objects with their eyes
  • turn toward the source of normal sound
  • reach for objects and pick them up
  • switch toys from one hand to the other
  • play with their toes
  • help hold the bottle during feeding
  • recognize familiar faces
  • imitate speech sounds
  • respond to soft sounds, especially talking
  • roll over
  • get to a sitting position
  • pull to a standing position
  • stand briefly without support
  • crawl
  • imitate adults using a cup or telephone
  • play peek-a-boo and patty cake
  • wave bye-bye
  • put objects in a container
  • say at least one word
  • make “ma-ma” or “da-da” sounds
  • like to push and pull objects
  • say at least six words
  • follow simple directions (“Bring the ball”)
  • pull off shoes, socks and mittens
  • can point to a picture that you name in a book
  • feed themselves
  • make marks on paper with crayons
  • walk without help
  • walk backwards
  • point, make sounds, or try to use words to ask for things
  • say “no,” shake their head, or push away things they don’t want
  • use two-to-three-word sentences
  • say about 50 words
  • recognize familiar pictures
  • kick a ball forward
  • feed themselves with a spoon
  • demand a lot of your attention
  • turn two or three pages together
  • like to imitate their parent
  • identify hair, eyes, ears, and nose by pointing
  • build a tower of four blocks
  • show affection
  • throw a ball overhand
  • ride a tricycle
  • put on their shoes
  • open the door
  • turn one page at a time
  • play with other children for a few minutes
  • repeat common rhymes
  • use three-to-five-word sentences
  • name at least one color correctly

In New York State, the Department of Health is the lead agency responsible for the Early Intervention Program. Children’s Speech and Rehabilitation Therapy can refer your child to the Department of Health or you can contact your local municipality’s Department of Health (Nassau: 516-227-8661). Your case is then assigned to an initial service coordinator who will meet with you and explain the Early Intervention Program and your rights. If your child will be receiving an evaluation, the service coordinator will also set a date for an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) meeting to take place to discuss the results of the evaluation.

As a parent/caregiver, you will be given an opportunity to select a New York State approved Early Intervention evaluator to conduct the evaluation of your child. Children’s Speech and Rehabilitation Therapy is an approved Early Intervention evaluator and provider of services. The evaluation process consists of two evaluations. One evaluation is in the specific area of concern. The other evaluation is considered a developmental evaluation which will examine the five main domains of development. The evaluator will also inquire about your child’s health, birth and milestones achieved. If your child meets the criteria for Early Intervention services, the IFSP meeting will take place in your home. Your service coordinator and a representative from the evaluation team will discuss your goals for your child and incorporate these goals and strategies into an IFSP. For children who are found not eligible, parents are advised to seek a re-evaluation at a later date, if progress is not seen or if parents still have concerns.