Resources for Physicians and Other Medical Practitioners
The California Speech-Language-Hearing Association has assembled these curated resources to help physicians and other medical practitioners evaluate where each child is on the path to age-appropriate language skills and determine if intervention or support is needed.
- ASHA’s Early Identification of Speech, Language, and Hearing Disorders webpage provides information on typical speech-language development in children from birth to age 3.
- ASHA’s Identify the Signs campaign aims to educate the public about the warning signs of communication disorders. It includes videos on early signs of speech, language and hearing disorders, and access to professionals.
- Autism Navigator provides web-based videos, courses and other resources for parents, professionals and researchers. Autism Navigator is connected with the First Words Project at Florida State University to provide online screening for social communication indicators of autism.
- Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive! is a coordinated federal effort to encourage universal developmental and behavioral screening for children and to support their families and care providers. It provides resources in English and Spanish to help identify developmental delay and intervene early.
- California Early Start’s Social-Emotional Development Checklist outlines eight best practices for early intervention providers to use when working with families. The checklist is also available in Spanish.
- Center for Parent Information and Resources offers an overview of early intervention services with information regarding early intervention eligibility, evaluation process, Individualized Family Service Plans, and other relevant topics.
- CHOC Children provides information about child development ages and stages.
- Early Childhood Development Task Force for Global Partnership on Children with Disabilitiesserves children from birth through age 8 and their families. Its 200-plus volunteer professionals and family members are affiliated with over 110 organizations from 78 countries in nine regions around the globe. ECDtf newsletters contain resource listings, and the organization also is developing a searchable resource library.
- First 5 California, also known as the California Children and Families Commission, is dedicated to improving the lives of children through age 5 and their families through a comprehensive system of education, health services, child care, and other crucial programs. Its site provides information about brain and language development, activities and other resources, including videos.
- First Signs provides resources to educate parents and professionals about autism and related disorders and to improve early identification of children at risk for autism.
- Help Me Grow California, a policy and advocacy group, provides a framework for linking children with developmental disabilities to appropriate local resources.
- International Society on Early Intervention, an organization for professionals, provides a framework for communicating advances and promoting international networks in the field of early intervention, focused on infants and toddlers. There is no cost to join ISEI, and members can access selected articles from the affiliated professional journal, Infants & Young Children.
- Learn the Signs. Act Early. is a comprehensive collection of tools from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on birth-to-5 developmental milestones and early intervention resources.
- Milestone Tracker is the CDC’s free app for Apple and Android devices that includes milestone summaries and checklists for ages 2 months to 5 years. Available in English and Spanish, it also provides activities, tips, and appointment and screening reminders. Free downloadable promotional materials are available.
- Pro-Ed Speech and Language Milestone Chart maps vocabulary and language development expectations for a 2-year-old child.
- Simon Fraser University study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry highlights the importance of early identification and intervention.
- Super Duper Publications provides materials for vocabulary development.
- “The Early Language in Victoria Study,” an article published in the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology in 2009, discusses risk factors and predictors of communication skills and vocabulary development in the young child.
- “Typical Speech and Language Acquisition in Infants and Young Children,” a 1998 article republished on speech-language-therapy.com, provides a thorough overview of speech and language development and includes video links.
- UNICEF Early Childhood Development webpage includes videos, research, and other resources to raise awareness about the importance of the first 1,000 days of a child’s life and brain development. The effort is part of Early Moments Matter, a campaign launched in 2017 by UNICEF, an international organization that promotes the rights and well-being of every child.
- Zero to Three website provides resources for parents and professionals as well as advocacy tools to support early intervention for infants and toddlers.
- Zero to Three Language and Communication webpage provides resources specifically to promote language and communication development, including numerous videos that address how to support communication development, dual language learning and more.