294 chapter 34
How to use the Child Development Chart
The chart on pages 292 and 293 can be used to:
1. find and record a child’s developmental level.
2. plan the next developmental steps or activities with which we can help the child, and
3. record in which areas the child is progressing, and how much.
Let us suppose that a village health worker wants to help Nina’s mother figure out
CP what she needs to do next to help her 3-year-old daughter develop early abilities.
Together they look at the chart.
First they put
a circle around
each of the things
that Nina can do.
Since she still has
trouble holding
her head up, they
put a circle here.
Nina needs help
to roll from her
belly to her back,
so they put a
circle that goes
part way around
‘rolls belly to
back’.
After they circle Nina’s level in each area of development, they can see that in her
general body movements and control, Nina is still at the level of a 2- to 4-month-old
baby. Her hand control is at about 6 months. Her seeing and hearing seem about
normal, and her mental development is at about 2 years.
Then they put a square around the next developmental step after each circle. The
squares show which developmental steps Nina now needs help with. Because Nina’s
poor head control is holding her back in other areas, they decide to work mostly with
this (see p. 302), and also to help her with rolling and twisting her body (see p. 304).
Perhaps they can begin to work with sitting and creeping, but probably she will not
progress much with these until she gets better head control. The use of her hands is
still somewhat behind for her age, but this may partly be because of her
poor head control. So they decide to have her sit for short periods each
day in a special seat. With her head supported in a good position, they
can give her games and things to do to help her develop better use of
her hands. But, they are careful not to keep her head supported for long,
because that will not help her to learn to support it herself. Also, they are
careful to provide only the least amount of support needed to give her
better control of other parts of her body. They wilt reduce the support as
her control improves.
Because Nina’s eyes, ears, mind, and speech seem to be developing fairly well,
these will probably be what she learns to use best as she grows older. Therefore, her
parents decide to do all they can to help her improve these skills. They use pictures,
songs, stories, play, and a lot of stimulation to help her develop her mind. But they
try to remember that she is still only 3 years old. They must not push her too much.
Sometimes it is better to help her gain skill and confidence in only 1 or 2 areas at a time.
Disabled village Children