Oakland Schools issued the following announcement on Sept 19.
Great Start Collaborative Oakland’s Help Me Grow initiative recently surpassed 100,000 Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) developmental screenings for young children throughout Oakland County.
No other developmental screening effort in the world has provided this many ASQ screenings to children birth through age five.
Parents can do brief online ASQ screenings to learn if their children are reaching developmental milestones or may benefit from more support to reach age expectations. Care coordinators from Oakland Schools Early Childhood follow up with parents to provide more information, if desired by families.
These services are provided through Oakland’s Help Me Grow, which encompasses 140 community and school district partners. Help Me Grow began with just 230 developmental screenings in 2010, but quickly grew to 17,390 screenings in 2018.
“We are ultimately all about partnering with families so that children thrive,” said Kellye Wood, director of Early Childhood at Oakland Schools. “Developmental screening is important because the early years hold the promise of naturally fast brain growth when children’s learning can be accelerated the rest of their lives.”
What parents learn from the screening process will not only help families provide natural playful opportunities for children’s physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive development – but it will also connect them with more evaluation and timely support when needed.
“Parent by parent, we will build to universal and equitable education access for all families,” Wood added.
Developmental screenings are available for any child in Oakland County birth to age five. For more information about the Ages and Stages Questionnaire or to participate, visit https://www.greatstartoakland.org/family-resources/help-me-grow.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Oakland Schools
Alerts Sign-up