Self-Assessments

At Kid Sense we know that you know when something isn’t quite right. But the question is… “What isn’t quite right?” and… “What do I do about”?

To help answer these questions, Kid Sense has developed a screening tool known as the Development Detector^TM

How do I know if I should consider an Occupational Therapy or Speech Therapy Assessment?

Use the Development DetectorTM to examine a child’s abilities to help determine if professional consultation might be appropriate. It can also be used to put your finger on the issues of concern to guide discussion with others, such as between the child’s parents or between the child’s teacher and their parents. This screening tool can also be a useful structure to discuss a child’s progress in a parent/teacher interview.

Which Development DetectorTM should I use?

Choose the area of your concern (Occupational Therapy or Speech Therapy). Then choose the Development DetectorTM that is appropriate to your child’s age.

Choose Occupational Therapy for concerns about:

Physical skills, attention, learning and behaviour (sensory processing/integration), or
Fiddly fingers (fine motor) skills (drawing, writing, cutting, shoelaces, buttons), or
Whole body (gross motor) skills (running, jumping, coordination, endurance), or
‘Life skills’ (dressing, eating, sleeping), being organized and able to plan and sequence tasks.

Choose Speech Therapy for concerns about

Language skills,written (spelling, story writing) or
Spoken (verbal, articulation), or
Listening and comprehension:
(understanding instructions / conversations), or
Reading (reading, sounding out words, recognizing previously encountered words).

What if my child’s age falls outside the Development DetectorTM age options?

If your child’s age falls outside the Development DetectorTM range, then skills at their age are either too varied or too complex to screen using such a simple tool. In this case, call Kid Sense Child Development on 1800 KIDSENSE (1800 543 736) to discuss your child with a therapist, as the therapist needs specific information to direct your decision making.

How do you take the Development DetectorTM?

Simply select the areas of concern by choosing the appropriate developmental discipline. If you are not sure, visit the Occupational Therapy and/or Speech Therapy pages to see which developmental therapy area is most appropriate to your child’s areas of concern. Then simply:

Click on the discipline you feel is most relevant to your child.
Choose the age range most appropriate to your child.
Answer the questions by clicking Yes or No.
Click on the ‘Submit’ button to reveal the visual feedback about your child’s performance.
Click print if you wish to print this out to aid discussion with parents/teachers/allied health professional.

What if the Development DetectorTM does not show your concerns?

If you suspect a developmental concern that was not detected by the Development DetectorTM , call Kid Sense Child Development on 1800 KIDSENSE (1800 543 736) to discuss your results further with one of our Therapy team.