Educational Testing and Assessments: Infant-Toddler Developmental Assessment (IDA)

Submitted by FosterMommy on Mon, 12/21/2009 - 23:06

Are you wondering if your infant or toddler is on target developmentally? Do you have concerns because of the child's family history, exposure to domestic violence, early orphanage care, or prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol? Learning and developmental deficits are common in children who enter the foster care system because of abuse, neglect, drug, or alcohol exposure, and infants raised in overcrowded and understaffed orphanages. Early intervention services for infants and toddlers are available in most areas free of charge. All you need only to ask. Call your school district’s administrative office or special education services number. If you are unable to locate a number, ask your pediatrician for a referral. Some deficits can be eliminated or significantly reduced by early intervention so don’t wait.

When parenting older adopted children psychological testing, educational testing and assessments can become common items in your child’s yearly agenda. The school psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists tend to rattle off test and assessment names or acronyms. Then they place the commonly used abbreviated names, usually initials, on documents such as IEPs to support their educational or therapeutic recommendations for your child. Apparently, they think we all know exactly what those tests are, how they are given, and what they prove or disprove about the abilities of our children. The names of these test become familiar over the years, however I still have no idea what they really are. Therefore, we at Adoption Under One Roof are researching specific tests to help give our readers insight during IEPs and meetings with therapist. Today’s topic is Infant-Toddler Developmental Assessment (IDA).

Infant-Toddler Developmental Assessment (IDA) can be administered from birth to age 3.6 years. It is given on an individual basis. The amount of time varies depending on the age and cooperation level of the child. This six-phase test is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, family-centered six-phase process designed to identify children who are developmentally at risk. IDA helps to determine the need for monitoring, consultation, intervention, or other services for the child and family. IDA meets the criteria required by IDEA.

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