Social Development
What if my child is not learning language at the same level as his/her peers?
What if things aren’t developing at the expected rate?
What are the areas of functioning that are important to consider?
Social development is (choose one):
a. language only
b. ability to communicate only
c. when an individual is fun and comfortable to be around
Social development is more than language or the ability to communicate. Social development encompasses a range of skills that result in being fun and comfortable to be around. At a basic level, is it a pleasant experience to spend time with the child, or does it result in stress or other adverse feelings?
The first element of social development relates to “bonding” or attachment. Signs of healthy attachment include:
Many things can disrupt the rate of progress in these areas. A formal assessment of temperament, cognitive screening, and bonding, can help you establish specific targets to help the child.
What if my child is not learning language at the same level as his/her peers?
Remember every child is unique and may not progress in a predictable way. Learning words can often be a function of necessity. It is not always alarming when a child decides to wait.
Do they need to use certain words or can they get by with a grunt or crying? Speech articulation is dependent on several factors:
Usually common delays are not thought to be a problem until the child either gets out of a reasonable age range or if the deficits are accompanied by other social anomalies. Ask people you trust what they think. If you are unsettled or experiencing some anxiety about how your child is doing, contact us. Sometimes a short visit on the phone can help put you at ease and sometimes it leads to getting the right help for your child.
What if things aren’t developing at an expected rate?
First of all, there is a lot of variability between children when it comes to “normal development.” Keep in mind that even in fairly serious circumstances, early intervention can make a big difference in the outcome or quality of life.
What is normal?
First, compare your child’s progress with common expected milestones.
If there are indications that your child is not progressing, we recommend contacting our center to schedule a consultation. The odds are that your child is going to be fine; however, we recommend being thorough and ruling out a significant problem early.
What are the areas of functioning that are important to consider?
Social: The quality of the interactions with others and the progression of relationships with family or other familiar people. The ability to make and keep friends, cooperating, and responding appropriately to the feelings and interests of others.
Gross motor: The use of large groups of muscles to sit, stand, walk, run, maintaining balance, and moving from one position to another.
Fine motor: This involves more use of the hands and fingers to draw, write, handle or maneuver things with the hands, and developing skills involving those muscle groups.
Language: Speaking, articulation, pronunciation, using body language and gestures, communicating, and comprehending what others say.
Cognitive: Thinking ability, learning, logic, problem-solving, memory, reasoning, and understanding and forming concepts.
How can the Child and Youth Study Center help?
In the past ten years the fields of psychology, communication, education, and child development have converged on critical aspects of social and language development. Subsequently, we not only have better tools to diagnose specific elements of delays or problems, but we are also much more optimistic about what we can do to help the child (especially with early intervention).
At our center we offer:
Newborn
Cognitive and Motor Development:
-See best close up
-Fists closed, jerky movements
-Some distress may be due to inability to shift gaze away from objects (obligatory looking) until about 3 months of age
Social-emotional Development:
-Emotions not specifically directed at caregiver(s); undifferentiated distress (i.e., can not tell if the infant is angry, scared, etc.)
Language Development:
-Responds to voice by quieting and cries
Sleep Patterns:
-average 15 hrs./day (typically varies from 9 to 18 hrs.)
-6-8 sleep periods during a 24 hr. period
-longest periods of sleep initially occur during the day, with frequent waking at night
-babies generally get the sleep they need
-sleep patterns vary a lot during this developmental period
2-4 Months
Cognitive and Motor Development:
-Turns head to the sound of voice
-Enjoys visual stimulation
-Infant begins to differentiate strangers
-Starting to use hands for play once they open more
-Persistence in reaching
-Teething/chewing on objects
Social-emotional Development:
-Social smile appears, recognizes/reacts to caregiver(s), and begins to develop basic self-awareness
-Negative emotions (e.g., fear, anger) can be differentiated
-Infants anticipate and protest, want to be included in social activities
Language Development:
-Reacts to intonation/inflection, listens to own vocalizations, which include babbles, coos, and gurgles
Sleep Patterns:
-longer stretches of sleep; fewer awakenings
-more alert time during the day
6 Months
Cognitive and Motor Development:
-Follows objects out of sight (as in peek-a-boo); improvement in attention shifting
-Purposeful/coordinating reaching for toys
-Mouth important in learning about objects
-Infant begins sitting
Social-emotional Development:
-Infants continue to smile and laugh more
-Express emotions with the entire body
-Infants begin to show interest in interacting with other children
-Play with toys for longer periods of time
Language Development:
-Imitates sounds, uses vocalizations to express feelings; babbles several sounds in one breath
Sleep Patterns:
-sleeping about 10 hours a night
-sleep patterns become more predictable
-infant able to go to sleep on his/her own
6-12 Months
Cognitive and Motor Development:
-Infants begin crawling, creeping, standing w/help and then independently, and finally walking
-Infants start using index finger to point; should be able to turn pages of a book
-Continued development of attention, especially in flexibility (i.e., infants are able to shift
attention or persist in orienting, depending on their interest in objects)
-Activity levels increase throughout the infancy period, as the child gains motor skills
Social-emotional Development:
-More frequent/intense fear reactions, fear of strangers, and separation anxiety can be observed
-Increased self awareness and assertion, greater independence
-Attachment to the caregiver becomes very important, in so far as the development of secure attachment promotes exploration, self-regulation, and learning
Language Development:
-Responds to own name
-Obeys some commands, recognized words as symbols and uses single words in a meaningful way
Sleep Patterns:
-decreasing naps to 2 per day
-uninterrupted night sleep
15 Months-3 Years
Cognitive and Motor Development:
-Children’s attentional capacity and flexibility improves, memory also shows improvement, however, thinking continues to be concrete and “in-the-moment”
Social-emotional Development:
-Children begin to express likes/dislikes, say “no”, is eager to make choices and exercise independence
-Toddlers often become frustrated when they can not accomplish something, and frustration easily turns to anger
-Anger outbursts and temper-tantrums tend to become more frequent
-Children of this age enjoy routines, and are often frustrated by changes, especially sudden disruptions/transitions
-Interest in social interactions with other children continues to grow, and children often identify “special friends”; however, sharing is difficult
-Parallel play (playing alongside, but not necessarily engaging the other child) dominates
-Children this age enjoy a variety of play activities, and pretend play (e.g., dress up) becomes especially important
-Ability to follow directions improves, as a result of the development of attention skills, and self-regulation
Language Development:
-Despite considerable variability, most children use single words by the time they are 15 months of age, and use meaningful speech by the time they are 3 years of age
-As the child approaches 18 moths s/he should be able to name several common objects
-At this time pronunciation will not be perfect, but it should be close (i.e., understood by others)
Sleep Patterns: