Child Development

Developmental Disabilities | Discapacidades del Desarrollo

When a baby or preschooler lags far behind, doesn’t reach key developmental milestones, or loses a previously acquired skill, it’s reasonable to suspect a mental or physical problem serious enough to be considered a developmental disability. These pages in English and Spanish appearing on the HealthyChildren.org website provide authoritative guidance on developmental disabilities, developmental milestones at various ages, and what parents and professionals need to know or do. Each page is actually a suite of articles in both languages about specific disabilities that are considered as developmental disabilities. Perfect for sharing with the English and Spanish-speaking families and communities you serve!

See the full list of articles and find links to both the English and Spanish suites.

Autism Navigator

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Milestones Photo and Video Library

Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, act, and move (rolling over, for example, or crawling, standing, walking, talking). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintain a free online library of photos and videos that capture the milestones of development that young children might be expected to achieve at various ages–skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye bye.”

The photo library is part of CDC’s larger information suite Milestones in Action, which also includes fact sheets on developmental milestones and on developmental delay; a developmental checklist; the Milestone Tracker app; and more. Each resource is available in English and Spanish.

Interested? Read more about (and access) Milestones in Action here.

Developmental Milestones

Here are just a few of many milestones a typically developing child reaches in the first year of life and beyond.

By 3 months
By 6 months
By 12 months
Older than 12 months

Webinar | Collaboration of Act Early Ambassadors and Parent Centers

Connecting families to information and resources about their children’s development are essential components of both Parent Centers and Act Early Ambassadors. This webinar highlights how the similar missions of both Parent Centers and the Act Early Ambassadors create opportunities for working in partnership.

Small Children Have Big Feelings

When parents talk, read, and sing with their children in sensitive, loving, and responsive ways, they build their children’s brain and help them develop the social-emotional skills they need to succeed in school and life. Research shows that a strong social and emotional foundation in early childhood powerfully impacts children’s later positive attitudes and behaviors, their academic performance, career path, and adult health outcomes.

Developmental Foundations of School Readiness for Infants and Toddlers

Can be used by Parent Centers for their own professional learning and to inform decision-making discussions about early childhood development.

This Research to Practice report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Video | The Science of Early Childhood Development

From the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, this 4-minute video shares basic concepts of early childhood development, established over decades of neuroscience and behavioral research. The video is also available in Spanish.

Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive!

Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive! is a coordinated federal effort to encourage healthy child development, universal developmental and behavioral screening for children, and support for the families and providers who care for them.

WonderBaby.org

WonderBaby.org, a project funded by the Perkins School for the Blind, is dedicated to helping parents of young children with visual impairments as well as children with multiple disabilities. Here you’ll find a database of articles written by parents who want to share with others what they’ve learned about playing with and teaching a blind child. We focus on real-life advice and real-life experiences.