The Quick Peek Program

Abstract

Developmental screening of young children is important in all populations, especially underserved communities with known health care disparities. The American Academy of Pediatrics created guidelines and a toolkit for pediatricians to conduct developmental surveillance and screening, yet these guidelines are not uniformly implemented within pediatric health care settings. This results in missed opportunities to identify young children with developmental issues, delaying enrollment in early intervention and affecting child outcome. A community-based developmental screening program was designed to address this need and to reduce barriers to developmental screening. Free, bilingual clinics were provided within underserved communities, targeting children between 1 and 5 years old. These brief screenings consisted of an Ages and Stages Questionnaire–Third Edition conducted interactively with the child, parent/guardian, and screener, as well as the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers–Revised (MCHAT-R) when applicable for child's age. In the first 3 years of the program, 1,150 children were screened and 51% were found to be “at risk.” Twenty-seven percent of at-risk children were lost to follow-up at 1 month. Of those at-risk children reached at 1 month follow-up, 88% had arranged recommended evaluations and services. Implications of this model for improving access to care are discussed.

Monitoring children’s development in early childhood education settings to promote early detection of autism

“…While there has been a great deal of focus on training paediatric healthcare providers to conduct developmental screening with young patients, recent studies have suggested that this might be insufficient to increase access to early intervention, particularly in under-resourced communities (Daniels & Mandell, 2014; Janvier et al, 2016). To effectively implement developmental surveillance, increase capacity and build sustainability, (Harris & Norton, 2016) recommend that new models need to be developed to include training of a variety of community-based professionals including early childhood educators to conduct screening directly with the children in their care. This recommendation is substantiated by this study.…”

Who Is Centered? A Systematic Review of Early Childhood Researchers’ Descriptions of Children and Caregivers From Linguistically Minoritized Communities

“…The majority of authors, however, ( n = 21, 70%) only used deficit-based language. The five remaining sets of authors (17%) used neutral language when describing participants’ linguistic backgrounds (i.e., Greenwood et al, 2010; Harris & Norton, 2016; Jackson & Callender, 2014; Johnson & Walker, 1991; Marshall et al, 2020). When examining whether researchers’ use of strength- versus deficit-based language has changed across the last three decades (see Figure 3), we did not see any clear patterns indicating researchers increasing their use of strength-based language over time or within the years associated with particular bilingual education policies.…”

“I want them to know self-love": young mothers' experiences supporting their children

“…The ASQ is an appropriate tool for such a task as it is regularly used with young mothers (Singh, Yeh & Blanchard, 2017). It also provides a means for parents to learn about child development and normative milestones and provides opportunities to discuss child development and any existing concerns with professionals (Harris & Norton, 2016). Young mothers' experiences participating in the ASQ will provide a window into exploring discourses around young motherhood and child development.…”

“…Parents are meant to complete the questionnaire, with or without the assistance of a professional in the field (Harris & Norton, 2016) (Veldhuizen, Clinton, Rodriguez, Wade & Cairney, 2015). These differences may have been due to the differences in populations with which the studies were conducted.…”

“…It highlights questions that may not apply to all cultures and provides instructions about how to proceed if this is the case. Harris and Norton (2016) identify this as one of the ASQ's strengths, because the person completing the questionnaire, either a parent or a professional, is familiar enough with the child to know whether or not they have had certain experiences or opportunities, for example, eating with a spoon. The ASQ has not been explored from the perspective of the parent completing the questionnaire.…”