Families with child care needs have children with all types of abilities and disabilities. Our staff has training and experience in child development which they share with parents on a daily basis. While all young children develop at their own rate, children go through changes in skill development during predictable time periods, called developmental milestones. When children have not reached these milestones by the expected time period, it’s called a developmental delay. Developmental delays can occur in any one of five areas of development (cognitive, social and emotional, speech and language development, fine and gross motor) or in several areas at the same time.
Often a developmental delay will be “outgrown” by a child, but more often, the child may need some additional assistance in developing skills to be on par with his or her typically developing peers. Research shows the earlier assistance is provided to assist with a developmental delay, the more quickly the child can make progress, and the fewer challenges to learning the child will face.
When a child develops at a different rate or in a different way than what is expected or typical at the child’s stage of development, First Circle has developed a Referral Plan so that the child’s needs may be identified and a plan developed to help the child succeed. Should your child be identified as learning at a different rate or a different way than what is typical, we’ll schedule a meeting with you to share our observations and conclusions with you and recommend next steps.