Teaching young mothers to identify developmental milestones

Early identification of a developmental delay may allow for early intervention, a strategy shown to improve child outcomes. Often, pediatricians rely on parent observations to share concerns about development. The purpose of this research was to examine whether a combination of line-art drawings and discussion framed within SafeCare® increases a mothers' identification of developmental milestones. Thus, we examined the tDevelop, a tool designed to increase parent identification of developmental milestones and ageappropriate activities. Two high-risk families with children approximately 24-months of age were recruited from a residential program for young mothers. The mothers were presented with the tDevelop along with standard SafeCare® Parent-Child Interaction (PCI) information, including Planned Activities Training and age-appropriate activities. Data from a multiple-probe, single-case experimental design, suggest that mothers are able to recognize developmental milestones with increased accuracy upon intervention with the tDevelop. The enhanced PCI protocol may enhance parental identification of developmental milestones and may have significant implications for the early identification of developmental delays.