Child assessment involves the evaluation of a child’s development, such as the physical, language, intellectual, emotional and social development. This can be carried out by a developmental assessment expert, such as a paediatrician, child psychologist, language specialist, audiologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, and so on.
A quality child assessment must have the following qualities:
Teamwork Must Exist Between Parents, and Experts
Parents give the best evaluation and information on their child’s behaviour; hence they must work as a team with professionals for the development of the child.
A Team conducts the Assessment
A team such as the inclusion of a paediatrician, child psychologist, audiologist, and physical therapist, occupational therapist have an in-depth understanding of child development and should conduct the assessment.
Observe Your Child in Different settings with Different People.
A child behaves differently in different settings and with different people; hence, to understand your child’s behaviour better, such as how he/she plays, reasons, learns, moves, interacts, etc., you need to evaluate such child in different settings. The way a child conducts themselves around you may be different from how he does at school or with siblings.
Child Assessment Should Identify the Strengths and Challenges of Your Child.
Child development is complicated, for an assessment to be good, it should identify how your child copes in different areas, not just a few of the child’s weaknesses from their development assessment form (แบบ ประเมิน พัฒนาการ, which is the term in Thai).
The Purpose of an Assessment is to Help the Child
Early child’s development is usually the first approach to know if a child needs help. The process should look like an avenue for you to know your child better, and lets you get new approaches on how to interact better with your child and answer many of the child’s development questions.
