Child Health and Development


The Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County works with child care providers to help with early detection of physical or learning challenges in a child's life. If any concerns are found, we aim to promote understanding between parents and providers of the condition and propose a course of action to best follow up on these concerns.

Ages and Stages Questionnaires® Developmental Screenings (ASQ)

An Ages and Stages developmental screening is completed every 6 months for children in the School Readiness program ages 6-months to 5-years. School Readiness providers must log in to the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County’s web-based ASQ system to view which screenings are due and to complete screenings in a timely manner. It is imperative that screenings are completed within 30 days of the ASQ which is tailored for each age level.

The results of screenings are processed by Child Health and Development Specialists and a copy of the results are sent to both the parents and providers. If a child shows possible developmental delays, an Individualized Early Care Plan (IECP) is created that contains activities for the teacher in the classroom to use as well as the parent at the home, specific to the developmental areas that may need further stimulation.

Referrals to other community agencies are also provided for children who display possible development delays. These agencies provide an in-depth evaluation of the child’s overall development.

Training and technical assistance on the ASQ system is available by contacting the ELC’s Child Health and Development Department at (941) 757-2900 extension 240. General information about the Ages and Stages program is available at www.agesandstages.com.

To log in to the ELC’s web-based ASQ system, click here:
www.elc-manatee.org/asq

Ages and Stages Questionnaires® Social-Emotional Developmental Screenings (ASQ:SE)

The ASQ:SE is an additional screening tool available that is designed to identify children, 3 months through 66 months of age, whose social-emotional development may require a further evaluation. Behaviors addressed with this tool include self-regulation, compliance, affect, and interaction with people.

An ASQ:SE is composed of simple-to-complete questions designed for use by the child’s parent and/or teacher. If you have any children that display behaviors that concern you, call the ELC's Child Health and Development Team at (941) 757-2900 extension 240 to coordinate a screening.

Battelle Developmental Inventory™ Screenings (BDI)

Battelle developmental screenings help determine how a child is developing within the classroom environment. Trained developmental specialists come to the center and sit down with the individual child and ask them to complete age appropriate activities.

A pre-test is given near the beginning of the school year, and then 6-12 months later, a post-test is conducted to determine the progress of the child and to measure the effect a classroom is having on the population of students.

Vision and Hearing Screenings

The Early Learning Coalition provides a vision and hearing screening to children of ages 7-months to 5-years in our School Readiness program which aims to detect early signs of difficulties a child may have seeing or hearing. A member of the ELC’s Child Health and Development department will come onsite to your center to conduct these screenings.

The parent and childcare provider are notified of the results and advisement to both is made if further examination of a child’s vision or hearing is recommended.