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If Your Toddler is 18
Months, Check Your Mail!
The Healthy Babies/Healthy Children (HBHC) program of the Leeds, Grenville and
Lanark District Health Unit is promoting growth and development awareness to the
parents of toddlers in the tri-county. Many parents ask themselves if their child is
able to do the skills and activities that other children the same age doing. When
they ask questions, or express concern, some people tell these parents to "wait
and see" or the child "will do it when he/she wants to". Research has
proven that this attitude is not the most helpful. Any child with a possibility of a
delay, or behavioural difficulty, should be investigated as soon as possible.
Identifying children in need of extra help or support in the years before th the
child's 6 birthday is very important because the brain is developing more rapidly
than any other time in his/her life. Any extra help that the child receives during
this time can help him/her reach developmental milestones, do better in school and
reach his/her potential. For this reason, parents of children 17 months old are
being mailed a copy of a developmental checklist and a letter explaining the
importance of parents monitoring their child's growth and development. We are
encouraging them to answer the questions on the checklist and to take the completed
screen to their health care provider at the child's 18-month medical appointment. A
gift for the toddler is also included in the package.
The checklist, called the Nipissing District Developmental Screen (NDDS), was
developed in 1993 by a group of professionals working with infants and children. The
screens were updated in 2002 after reliability and validity studies were conducted
as part of the HBHC evaluation. The Nipissing District Developmental Screen is an
easy to use tool that allows the parent to record the development of their child. It
also gives suggestions on how the parent can help their child's growth and
development. The tool helps to identify children who might be in need of increased
intervention in the early years of life. It is not meant to be a substitute for
professional advice. Additional information about the Nipissing screen is available
online at their website .
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