[protomyth]

Head Start has long been known to be more positive for the parents than the children. The real problem is Head Start is too late to find some of the biggest problems. A physical problem that affects learning can be caught and corrected earlier. Instruments such as the Denver Screening, ELAP, or LAP will catch stuff in the 6 week to 3 year range. HS has a program in this range (Early Head Start) which evolved from earlier efforts (e.g. CCDP), but it is not common. 0-3 programs are better for kids long term, 3-5 year programs benefit parents more.

Disclaimer - I have 5 years of data on a study program under my belt in this area (0-3).

Advice - if you have a kid in the 0-3 range, get them screened often and get any problems corrected. It will save you grief and taxpayers money later.

[sarah2079]

Would you mind giving a quick summary of the types of screening you suggest?

[protomyth]

I am most familiar with the three I mentioned, but check with your state government. Hearing is critical and seemed to be the most common and costly if not caught. When I get into the office I will see if I can find some of my old files. Search "Denver Developmental Screening" and "Early Learning Accomplishment Profile" to get a flavor of what I mean.

[protomyth]

After the weekend weather, I got to work and cannot get any of the old files (about 10yrs old now). So, I will go from memory.

We used the "Denver Developmental Screening" as an initial test. You probably will remember it (or something very like it) by the use of a small bell rung near the infant to get a reaction. It covers a number of little things to check for problems.

Early Learning Accomplishment Profile or ELAP or E-LAP was use thereafter for 0-3 (LAP taking over from there). It is based on "Domains" and Skills. The domains are Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Cognitive, Language, Self-Help, and Social Emotional. Each Domain has a number of Skills (not the same number for each Domain) number from 1 to N where 1 is the "simplest" and N is the "most complex". An example skill would be "picks up spoon" in Fine Motor. As a child develops s/he should be able to work their way through all the Skills in the Domain.

Testing consisted of going through the skills until the child couldn't do a certain number of skills (I think it was 3 of 5, but I cannot remember). At which point a lesson plan was written (really, it was generated by a Visual Basic program we wrote). The lesson plan was keyed to practicing skills that the child couldn't do.

If the child fell behind what was age appropriate progress, a team looked at what might be wrong or if some physical problem was preventing progress. The amount of money that could be saved by taxpayers if just basic hearing problems were dealt with is mindblowing.