Communication and Professional Relationships with Children, Young People and Adults

5646 Words23 Pages
Understanding Child Development For professionals and parents ensuring your child has the best start in life is of fundamental importance. Understanding how children develop, the rate and sequence of development especially, helps us to provide the resources that a child needs in order to maximise their potential. This booklet will look at factors affecting children’s development as well as some of the theories of development which affect current practice. Included in this booklet is a reference for parents and professionals which explains how to monitor children’s development and what to do if a child needs help with his or her development. Factors affecting development There are a range of factors which can affect a child’s development which begins from the moment of conception, and which will influence how the child develops and at what rate. Development is measured by parameters which have been carefully researched and measured and to which many professionals such as doctors, teachers, social workers and so on are able to refer to when assessing a child’s development. These milestones in development enable professionals but also parents to see where a child is in their rate of development and if they are following the sequence of development that is expected of them by a certain age. An example would be that most children will start to walk between 10 to 17 months, if after this time a baby is still not walking then there may be professional intervention that can resolve the problem which is important to solve at a younger age in order to prevent any problems later on in life. There are many things that can influence a child’s development which can be divided into personal and external factors. 2.1 Personal factors Genetic Genetic disorders are numerous but could include Down Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis, colour blindness, and will affect a child’s
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