A comparative review of developmental screening tests

Public Law 99-457, passed in 1986, expanded the Education of the Handicapped Act to include services for children between birth and three years with delayed development. Agencies that are responsible for administering services to handicapped children are currently planning how to implement this law. Developmental screening with standardized tests will assist pediatricians and other health care professionals in identifying young children with delayed development. Various test can be used to screen for developmental delays in five areas: cognition or intellectual awareness; gross and fine motor function; speech and language; adaptive behavior; and psychosocial characteristics. Nineteen different screening tests, given by a pediatrician, were assessed by a panel of pediatricians and a special educator. Although most of the tests were too lengthy for routine pediatric examinations, many tests fulfilled the requirements for educational and psychologic tests. The screening tests included the Battelle Developmental Inventory Screening Test, Infant Monitoring System, Developmental Indicators for Assessment of Learning-Revised, Screening Children for Related Early Educational Needs, and the Developmental Profile II. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)