Promote Young Person and Child Development

What are the most relevant factors to be aware of when assessing a child or young person’s development? All children and young people are different and have different needs. Similarly, a family’s ability to respond to and meet all their needs may also differ. In some circumstances, professional assessment may be required to identify strengths and needs, to ensure that all children, young people and their families receive appropriate support.

Assessment may take place in a wide range of situations and for a variety of purposes, for example:

• A teacher’s assessment of a child’s educational attainment at key stages of the national curriculum, to determine future learning plans.
• A paediatric assessment to ensure that a child has reached the appropriate developmental milestones and to monitor progress.
• A Connexions personal adviser’s assessment of a young person’s strengths and barriers to participation in learning to provide feedback and motivation.
• An educational psychologist’s assessment of a child or young person’s special educational needs to identify their educational strengths and needs.
• A social worker’s assessment of a child’s home situation, to determine if they are at risk of harm. Each of these types of assessment has a clearly defined purpose and it is important to note that the role and function of assessment may vary according to the context.

The unborn, infant, child or young person’s current health condition (for example, conditions of relevance to an infant, child or young person, including growth, development, physical and mental well-being). Also includes consideration of: * health conditions or impairments which significantly affect everyday life functioning whether chronic or acute, including obesity; unborn child is not developing adequately; * access to and use of appropriate health services (by mother in case of unborn), uch as those provided by a GP/dentist/optician, immunisations and appropriate developmental checks; * number and frequency of hospital admissions and accidents (of mother where unborn); * Access to and use of appropriate health advice and information, for example, diet, sexual health and management of any health condition such as diabetes or asthma (where unborn, mother is following advice). Physical Development: “Physical Development” refers to the infant, child or young person’s means of mobility, level of physical or sexual maturity/delayed development.

Also includes consideration of:

• preferred means of communication;
• use of first language;
• ability to gain attention and make contact, access positive relationships, be with others, encourage conversation;
• the impulse to communicate, exploring, experiment, labelling and expressing, describing, questioning, representing and predicting, sharing thoughts, feelings and ideas;
• listening and paying attention to what others say, making playful and serious responses, enjoying and sharing stories, songs, rhymes and games, learning about words and meanings;
• vision and hearing; ability to communicate meaning, influence others, negotiate and make choices, understanding of others;
• language for communicating and thinking;
• linking sounds and letters;
• reading and writing;
• willingness to communicate;
• articulation skills and language structure;
• vocabulary and comprehension;
• fluency of speech and confidence;
• appropriateness of social and communications skills, for example, body language, excessive use of expletives or inappropriate language.

Emotional and Social Development The emotional and social response the infant, child or young person gives to parents, carers and others outside the family.

Also includes consideration of:

• the importance of being special to someone, being able to express feelings, developing healthy dependence, developing healthy independence;
• nature and quality of early attachments;
• self-harm or risk of self-harm;
• phobias or psychological difficulties;
• fears or psychological difficulties such as persistent sadness or tearfulness;
• temperament, coping and adjusting abilities for example, after experiencing domestic violence, bereavement or family relationship breakdown;
• disposition, attitudes and motivation to change.

Behavioural Development The behaviour of the child or young person and whether behaviour occurs in a particular setting or all settings. Also includes consideration of:

• lifestyle and self-control (including participation in reckless activity and need for excitement);
• behaviour in class or other environments where the child or young person comes into contact with their peers;
• whether undiagnosed conditions may be impacting on behaviour (eg. earing or visual impairment);
• substance misuse (includes alcohol and volatile substance misuse and controlled drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971);
• anti-social behaviour for example, destruction of property, aggression towards others, harm or risk of harm to others;
• sexually inappropriate behaviour and attempts to manipulate or control others;
• early sexual activity, unprotected sex, lack of reflection or positive decision making about sex and relationships;
• offending behaviour and risk of re)offending;
• violent or aggressive behaviour at home or school;
• attitudes to offending;
• over activity, attentiveness, concentration and impulsive behaviour Identity, including self-esteem, self-image and social presentation

Also includes consideration of: * growing awareness of self, realisation of separateness and differences from others, recognition of personal characteristics and preferences, finding out what they can do; * importance of gaining self-assurance through a close relationship, becoming confident in what they can do, valuing and appreciating their own abilities, feeling self-assured and supported, a positive view of themselves; * knowledge of personal and family history; access to recognition, acceptance and comfort, ability to contribute to secure relationships, understanding they can be valued by and important to someone, exploring emotional boundaries; * sense of belonging, being able to join in, enjoying being with familiar and trusted others, valuing individuality and contributions of self and others, having a role and identity within a group, acceptance by those around them; * race, religion, age, gender, sexuality and disability – may be affected by bullying or discriminatory behaviour; understanding of the way in which appearance and behaviour are perceived and the impression being created.

Family and Social Relationships The ability to empathise and build stable and affectionate relationships with others, including family, peers and the wider community. Also includes consideration of: * stable and affectionate relationships with parents or caregivers; * sibling relationships; * involvement in helping others; * age-appropriate friendships; * association with predominantly pro-criminal peers or lack of non-criminal friends; * understanding of others and awareness of consequences; * association with substance-misusing friends/peer groups.

Give examples of how you can assess a child or young person’s development in the following areas. Physical development- When we refer to physical development we are looking at factors such as gross motor(which indicates large muscle development such as walking or swinging our arms) and fine motor (more intricate movements such as picking up objects or writing). This is a relatively easy assessment to carry out. If we have regular contact with the child or young person we can usually measure and weigh that individual on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Over a short period of time it would soon become apparent if there was any cause for concern.

We can also observe children as they play and interact. For example can they climb, skip, use a rope and coordinate their hand to eye movements. Communication and speech development: By speech we mean * The speech sounds children use to build up words, saying sounds accurately and in the right places. * Speaking fluently, without hesitating, prolonging or repeating words or sounds. * Speaking with expression and a clear voice, using pitch, volume and intonation to support meaning. By communication we mean the way in which language is used to interact with others * Using language in different ways; to question, clarify, describe and debate. Using non-verbal rules of communication: listening, looking, knowing how to take verbal turns and how to change language use to suit the situation. * The ability to take into account other people’s perspectives, intentions and wider context This can be assessed by observing the way in which a child or young person interacts with us, their parents or their social groups. We can also spend time with younger children by getting them to repeat words or have short, fun conversations with them.

When assessing them we can look out for any irregularities such as stutters, speech impediments or factors that may be affecting listening skills etc. Cognitive or intellectual development Cognitive development is the construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. It was once believed that infants lacked the ability to think or form complex ideas and remained without cognition until they learned language. It is now known that babies are aware of their surroundings and interested in exploration from the time they are born.

From birth, babies begin to actively learn. They gather, sort, and process information from around them, using the data to develop perception and thinking skills. Cognitive development refers to how a person perceives, thinks, and gains understanding of his or her world through the interaction of genetic and learned factors. Among the areas of cognitive development are information processing, intelligence reasoning, language, development and memory A broad range of assessment measures should be used to gain a full understanding of a pre-schooler’s functioning (e. . , parent and teacher reports, behavioural observation, detailed developmental history, and play-based assessment, in addition to traditional cognitive tests). Social/behavioural/emotional development Healthy social-emotional development includes the ability to:

• Form and sustain positive relationships
• Experience, manage, and express emotions

Explore and engage with the environment Children with well-developed social-emotional skills are also more able to:

• Express their ideas and feelings
• Display empathy towards others Manage their feelings of frustration and disappointment more easily
• Feel self-confident
• More easily make and develop friendships
• Succeed in school Social-emotional development provides the foundation for how we feel about ourselves and how we experience others.

This foundation begins the day we are born and continues to develop throughout our lifep. The greatest influence on a child’s social-emotional development is the quality of the relationships that he develops with his primary caregivers.

Positive and nurturing early experiences and relationships have a significant impact on a child’s social-emotional development. We can assess the emotional, social and behavioural development of the children who are in our care by recording behaviour patterns such as temper tantrums, physical confrontations and playful interactions. These findings can be recorded on charts and in diaries on a regular basis. Moral development Moral development focuses on the emergence, change, and understanding of morality from infancy through adulthood.

In the field of moral development, morality is defined as principles for how individuals ought to treat one another, with respect to justice, others’ welfare, and rights. In order to investigate how individuals understand morality, it is essential to measure their beliefs, emotions, attitudes, and behaviors that contribute to moral understanding. The field of moral development studies the role of peers and parents in facilitating moral development, the role of conscience and values, socialization and cultural influences, empathy and altruism, and positive development.

The interest in morality ps many disciplines (e. g. , philosophy, economics, biology, and political science) and specializations within psychology (e. g. , social, cognitive, and cultural). Moral developmental psychology research focuses on questions of origins and change in morality across the lifep Essentially it is the process in which children learn right from wrong, this is learned behaviour as a child will learn from its primary carer. We can assess what a young person or child is learning with regards to their morale’s by observing their behaviour towards thers. It is also possible to present certain dilemma’s under controlled circumstances to that child. Example: “Who is Naughtier? ” Piaget determined that younger children judge bad behavior by the amount of damage caused by a person’s behavior. He would tell children a story with a moral dilemma. He would ask them to tell him “who is naughtier:” a boy who accidentally broke fifteen cups or a boy who breaks one cup trying to reach a jam jar when his mother is not around.

Younger children attributed the “naughty” behavior to the boy who broke the most cups regardless of the other child’s intent. This type of moral reasoning was called Objective Morality or Moral Realism. Older children attributed bad behavior to the boy who broke only one cup because his motives where bad. This, more advanced form of moral reasoning was called Subjective Morality or Autonomous Morality. Piaget did not feel that children fully achieved this stage of moral development before the ages of twelve or thirteen.