Easter Seals Celebrates Week of the Young Child(TM) with Free, Online Developmental Screening
Newly Released Spanish Screening Makes the Early Years Count for Spanish Speaking Families Nationwide
CHICAGO, April 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Easter Seals released the Spanish version of the online developmental screening, the Ages & Stages Questionnaires® (ASQ), making it one step closer to its goal of having all kids under five screened for developmental delays, autism and other disabilities, and allowing for every family to access the screening free of charge.
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The Week of the Young Child, sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), aims to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize organizations like Easter Seals that help to meet those needs. In addition to providing services for kids with disabilities, Easter Seals is raising awareness among Spanish-speaking families and advocating for funding around early intervention through its Make the First Five Count® initiative.
Screenings Offer a Solution
One in five households with children has a child with a special health care need and could benefit from screening and services, yet less than 20 percent of children under the age of 5 receive a developmental screening.
Earlier detection gives children that critical window of opportunity and access to early intervention and treatment. Last year, Easter Seals, through the generous support of the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, introduced the ASQ in English, and is now making it possible for Spanish-speaking parents and caregivers to easily track their children's development through age 5 by means of the free, online screening tool.
Traditionally used by clinicians, therapists, professionals, and educators, Brookes Publishing's Ages & Stages Questionnaires® is available to parents and caregivers on Easter Seals' Make the First Five Count website to monitor child development and identify potential issues so that any concerns can be readily addressed to make sure they are on track and ready to enter school.
Timing is Everything
The first five years of life are years of learning that shape kids' futures. Yet every year, more than one million children with unidentified delays and disabilities enter school with learning and health issues that put them far behind their peers and have a lasting, negative effect on their ability to meet their full potential.
"The online tools are an effective first step toward identifying if a child could benefit from early intervention services, "says Katy Neas, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, Easter Seals. "Easter Seals is thrilled to be expanding the industry-standard child development screening tool available to Spanish speakers, for free and online for the very first time."
SOURCE Easter Seals
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