Early Childhood Evaluation

Our program is designed to assess all aspects of early development and identify young children struggling with developmental challenges, including sensory integration or processing issues, speech and motor delays, or social, emotional or behavioral challenges. For example, a child may be having trouble communicating with words or behaving appropriately in large, noisy or highly stimulating environments. She may seem uninterested in her peers, or show interest but interact in inappropriate or awkward ways. The goal of our service is to understand the nature of a child’s challenges, clearly describe strengths and weaknesses and guide parents toward appropriate interventions. 

The Early Childhood Evaluation program serves children ages three and under  and involves a comprehensive neurodevelopmental evaluation with a pediatric psychologist and, when needed, a speech-language pathologist. Our evaluation involves testing a child’s cognitive, speech and language, fine motor, adaptive capacities, and emotional and behavioral functioning. In addition, we administer a specialized play and social skills assessment to help us understand how he relates to others and his personal strengths and weaknesses in this area. With parents’ permission, we can also observe children at school and talk with their teachers and other treatment providers. 

We share the results of the evaluation with you in a personal meeting and provide a parent-friendly report that describes your child’s abilities and offers clear recommendations for treatments and, if appropriate, school programming. We are also available to speak with your child’s school or private treatment team to ensure that everyone is on the same page and working collaboratively to support his learning and development. 

We help guide families toward needed treatments, which may include speech and language therapy, occupational, physical or behavioral therapy, social skills training, or other types of medical interventions. We provide certain treatment services here at the Child Mind Institute and can also connect you with reliable professionals in the community. 

To make an appointment, call us at 212.308.3118 or request an appointment online.