Heaven’s Hands Community Service

Normal Growth & Development

Normal Growth and Development

• Define Development

• Identify the Four Major areas of Development

• Review Milestones

• Adaptive Skills

What do you think Normal Development means?

Normal Development

• A natural process of gradual change and the attainment of variety of movements and skills.

• It depends on a “normal” nervous system.• The nerves system is our brain and all the

information to and from the brain. It is the first system to be developed.

Normal Development continues…

• Development occurs in a fix sequence.

• It begins at conception and ends at death.

• It occurs in a head to toe manner.

Four Major Areas of Development.

• Physical

• Language

• Sensory and Perception

• Socio- adaptive

Physical Development

• Is voluntary motor behaviors gradually developing as a individual matures.

• It is defined in two ways: Gross Motor Skills Fine Motor Skills

Gross Motor Skills

• Gross motor skills are defined as the movement of the large muscles of the body. It is the individual’s general ability to move around and use various parts of your body.

Gross Motor Skills• Activities like rolling over, jumping, crawling, walking, running, are all

gross motor skills

• These skills usually involve using the entire body or several parts of the body at one time.

• Numerous muscles and muscles groups must be properly and rapidly engaged, so that the right muscles are accomplishing the appropriate necessary steps at the right time. For some children these processes can be nearly instinctive and for other continual training and discipline will be required.

Fine Motor Skills

• This term refers to skills that require smaller movements and use of smaller muscles.

• Activities like writing, turning pages using fingers, maturing in their capability to walk.

Which of the two motor skills develops first?

• Gross Motor skills develops first. Think of a baby, and how they move their entire body while moving.

• Once they master gross motor skills, they begin to work on fine motor skills.

Physical Development

• At what age do you think boys stop developing.

• Boys stop developing between the ages of 13- 21.

Physical Development

• At what age do you think girls stop developing?

• Girls stop developing between the ages of 15 -18 yrs

Language Skills

• Language skills has two major parts:

Receptive

Expressive

Receptive Language Skills

• Receptive language refers to how well an individual understands what is said to him/her.

• Way before someone can verbally answer a question, he/she can show that they understand by following a simple direction or pointing to a specific object.

Receptive Language Skills

• Babies brains are very open to learning and they quickly absorb language around them.

• Usually an individual can follow simple direction before he/she starts using words.

Receptive Language

• Around 2 months of age, babies begin to interact with caregivers by cooing and smiling, which proceeds to babbling and chuckling within about 6 months

• Also by 6 months most babies have learned all of the basic and distinct sounds of their native language.

• By the first year most babies can say a few words like “mama or dada”, and can understand more.

Expressive Language Skills

• Expressive language skills refers to an individual’s ability to express or communicate his/her thoughts and needs to others.

• By about 3 to 6 weeks, babies develop a different crying sound to indicate a specific need (such as hunger or discomfort).

Expressive Language Skills continues…

• As an individual grows, expressive language is used to refer to how well the individual understands.

• Additional, this term also refers to gestures or any other non-verbal forms of expression.

Sensory and Perception

• Normally we have five different sense: Touch Smell Sound Sight Taste.

Sensory and Perception continues…

• Sensory and perception is how people gather and interrupt these different senses.

• An example would be a individual ability to hear, understand and responds to his/her name.

Socio-Adaptive Skills

• Is defined as an individual’s ability to manifest socially appropriate characteristic and patterns such as sharing and interacting with others.

• In other words how we connect with the outside world.

Milestones

• Milestones are basic sequence in which a “normal” person develops.

Development follows a Fixed Sequence

• The sequence of motor skills development is more critical than the specific age of emergence.

• It is more important that things happen than when they happen.

Reflexes

• Reflexes are actions or behaviors which occur without voluntary control or thinking.

• They are predictable and stereotypic responses to stimuli in the environment.

Reflexes- “Primitive Involuntary Behaviors

• Rooting: this is when a baby nuzzles close to his/her mother.

• Suckling is instinctive to a baby within the 28 week into the womb.

• Moro: this is a reaction when the baby is startled while in the womb.

Reflexes- “Primitive Involuntary Behaviors continues…

• Fencers: In the early stages of infancy, if you raise the babies left arm, the right leg will rise.

Reflexes- “Primitive Involuntary Behaviors continues

• Stepping: If you touch an infants foot the reflex will be to lower the foot.

• All these previous mentioned reflexes will disappear by the age of one.

Reflexes- “Primitive Involuntary Behaviors continues

• Shivering: is a natural reflex to raise body temperature.

Adaptive Skills

• Adaptive skills are skills that a “normal” individual would learn as he/she grows and milestones are developed.

• Assessments of adaptive behaviors focuses on how individuals can function and maintain themselves independently and how well they meet the personal and social demands imposed on them by cultures.

Adaptive Skills

• There are more than 200 adaptive behavior measures and scales. The most common scale is the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale.

• The VABS measures four domains: Communication, Daily Living Skills, Socialization, and Motor Skills.