Development and Child Growth

ECE 205 Introduction to Child Development

April 9, 2012

We talk about the descriptions of child development and growth stages and what they mean and how we look at those stages and how a child will develop and growth through these changes as well. When we talk about growth we are talking about the actual size and the physical changes that a child makes over time, We talk about how the cells in the body change and with time change and expand or enlarge which is what increases the growth and the height of a child, also their weight, the circumference of their head, hands, shoe size, arm growth, and last but not least there body shape as well. Allen, K & Martoz, L (2010) When we look at children they all develop differently some will growth mentally at a faster pace than others, and others will grow physically faster than others. Infants will become more of their surroundings and with those stages of infant growths and starting out would be the rooting and sucking reflex which is a very big part of growth because that is a part of survival and that also starts to create them to be able to turn their heads. Some of the other major growths that happen with infants when they are starting to grow would be the Moro reflex, Palamar grasp reflex, babinski reflex, and last but not least the stepping and walking reflex. As those stages start to happen then you have the cognitive development and those stages would start out by the senorimotor stage, object Palmar, emotional development/social-emotional development, temperament, attachment, separation anxiety. Novella J. Ruffin, Ph.D., (2009)As I was doing my research I found a chart that is based on the milestones from the infant stage all the way to the five years of age of where a child should be along the way of their growing and there developmental stages as well. Timeline of Childhood Milestones 2 Months | Smiles at the sound of your voice and follows you with their eyes as you move around a room | 3 Months | Raises head and chest when lying on stomach
Grasps objects
Smiles at other people | 4 Months | Babbles, laughs, and tries to imitate sounds; holds head steady | 6 Months | Rolls from back to stomach and stomach to back
Moves objects from hand to hand | 7 Months | Responds to own name
Finds partially hidden objects | 9 Months | Sits without support, crawls, babbles "mama" and "dada" | 12 Months | Walks with or without support
Says at least one word
Enjoys imitating people | 18 Months | Walks independently, drinks from a cup, says at least 15 words, points to body parts | 2 Years | Runs and jumps
Speaks in two-word sentences
Follows simple instructions
Begins make-believe play | 3 Years | Climbs well
Speaks in multiword sentences
Sorts objects by shape and color | 4 Years | Gets along with people outside the family
Draws circles and squares
Rides a tricycle | 5 Years | Tells name and address
Jumps, hops, and skips
Gets dressed
Counts 10 or more objects Rauh, S (2010) |
Atypical development is here some children will exhibit behaviors that fall outside of the normal areas of development. A good example of an atypical development child would be a child with Down syndrome a child that has Down’s syndrome will have a cognitive delay most of the time. You will be able to see the signs and notices of a cognitive impairment as well as the physical characteristes and those signs could be microgenis, muscle hypotonia, a short neck, and macroglossia. The intellectual disability will tend to be at the present IQ of about 50 to 70 to the moderate side of the IQ scale of 35 to 50 ranges and a small proportion of children with Down’s syndrome could have a severe intellectual disabilities. There are numerous other disorders that lead to atypical cognitive growth and development. There are also other developmental delays that arise from a delay in attention, memory, or problem solving ability. It is important to note that communication delays are a separate class from cognition delays, but that the two are commonly associated with one another. Atypical cognitive growth will typically include a deficit in problem solving skills and a delay in concepts such as object permanence and recognition of object functions. Atypical cognitive development also includes a deficit in the ability to acquire new skills. Oftentimes, children experiencing atypical cognitive growth will play and interact with children who are chronologically younger. Hopkins, H and Young Jr. W (2011) In conclusion we watch children from the time they were born and how they grow and how the developmental stages break down and how a child with Down’s syndrome has many different changes with an atypical and what delays in development that can happen within the milestones from the time of birth to the age of 5 years of age and how the we can see the stages and if they are progressing and if they are not progressing at the right time of stages then what you need to do as a parent is to go in and let a health care provide see what is going on.

References:

Allen, K., Marotz, L., (2010), Developmental Profiles: Pre-birth Through Twelve, 6th Edition http://children.webmd.com/features/is-your-baby-on-track http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/350/350-055/350-055.html
http://thesocialworkexam.com/harry-hopkins-and-whitney-young-jr