The Bayley scales of infant and toddler development is a developmental assessment tool. It is one of the most reliable tools currently used in paediatics and can be used in children up to age 4.
How does it work : The child is given a number of tasks to determine if the level of his/her thinking , language and motor skills is similar to the level most children of that age. The scale has 4 major parts
1.Cognitive scale : made up of cognitive tasks . This means how a child thinks ,reacts and learns . Such tasks are how they solve problems and puzzles ,their attention to objects , how they explore and use toys , colour matching and others.
2.Language scale : made of expressive and receptive communication tasks, which means how they express themselves and how they understand directions from others. Such tasks are ability to follow simple directions , identify and name pictures , understand concepts of size and colour and use of basic grammar.
3.Motor scale : made up of fine and gross motor tasks . Fine motor tasks assess how a child use their hands . For example reach and grasp, stack blocks , draw , build a simple structure , use a scissor. Gross motor tasks assess how well a child uses his/her body . For example sit , walk , jump, run , kick a ball
4.Social-emotional scale : assess a child’s interactions with other people, how well can communicate his/her emotions and responds to sensory stimuli like sound and touch.
Your child’s results : the scores show how well your child performed compared to the average performance of children in the same age. For the sake of simplicity and easier understanding I usually express them as developmental age equivalent. For example a 24 month old with poor language skills might be marked as ‘’expressive language skills : developmental age 16 months’’ , which means that child performs at the level of an average 16 month old rather than a typical 24 month old.
Interpreting the results : They can help the specialist identify if your child is progressing well or if there are areas he/she is having difficulties. Please keep in mind that just because your child got low results does not necessarily mean there is a problem. Results are also affected by the child’s motivation , attention and tiredness on the day of assessment , interests and opportunities in life for learning. Human communication
Lets say you just saw a pretty flower and you want to share your excitement with me. First you need to have the will to want to interact with me , then you convert your thoughts into meaningful sentences . At the same time your facial expressions , gestures and tone of voice helps me pick up that this is something you find very exciting . By my reply and facial expressions , you are able to figure out the subtext , that I am not really interested in the flower , although I am not explicitly saying that because I am being polite . All these elements mix together to form human communication which goes beyond plain speech into hidden rules , use of body language and stems from the urge to interact with others.
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