HELP Strands Curriculum-Based Developmental Assessment Birth to Three years Adapted from the Hawaii Early Learning Profile by: Stephanie Parks Child’s Name: Birthdate: Sex: Entry Date: Prematurity Assigned: Parents:. Staff: Introduction The HELP Strands are a curticulum-based developmental assessment linked directly with a variety of parent and professional curricu- lum activites and strategies in the Howaii Early Learning Profile (HELP) Activity Guide, HELP at Home, and HELP: When the Parent is Handicapped. Each skil in the HELP Strands has the same skill identification number used in all of the HELP products for easy cross- reference and linkage. HELP is not standardized (see Inside HELP for more information on curriculum-based assessment). “The format of the HELP Strands provides an additional option to the HELP Charts and HELP Checklist for assessing, planning and monitoring progress of children. It includes the same core 685 skills and behaviors within the six major traditional domains, but the skils have been restructured into 58 developmentallysequenced conceptual strands which focus upon a specific underlying key concept. The Strands are hierarchical, ie, one skill generally leads to, or builds the foundation for, the next skill and thus levels, strengths and needs within each traditional domain can be easily identified for assessment and planning, Instructions 1. The HELP Strands are intended for use by professionals in conjunction with Inside HELP, which is a comprehensive administra: tion and reference manual for understanding and using HELP. Only abbreviated definitions and instructions are included ‘on the HELP Stronds. Refer to inside HELP for more exact definitions, assessment procedures, and specific credit criteria for each of the 685 skills. In addition, for each strand, Inside HELP includes: a “Family Friendly” interpretation of strand concepts, Professional FYI, Pareitt_ Questions to facilitate a family directed assessment oftheir child's development as well as family concerns, priorities, and resources; sample Functional Outcome statements, assessment of the Environment and Caregiver Interactions, interpretation guidelines, and Assessment Adaptations for disabilities. 2 ion 0.0 is a new section that has been added to the HELP Strands. Pertinent HELP skils were selected from all domains which tap the child's self-regulation capacities (sleep cycles, regulation of moods, attention, and consolabilty) and the child's capacities to perceive and organize various sensory experiences (sights, sounds, touch, taste, [pg cca vestibular, proprioception. tis not appropriate to use thi section for identiying approximate age ranges 3. Condensed definitions are also included directly on the assessment form for quick reference. Refer to Inside HELP for more specific information, 4, Some of the original HELP skill age ranges and wording has been revised and updated to reflect current literature. These Updates are printed in italics and are also listed in the Appendix of Inside HELP. S. Assessment information can be collected by direct observation of the child during daily activites and play, structured elicit- ing situations, and parent interview. 6. is typically unnecessary and inappropriate to assess each strand or domain separately. Each observation of a child can | simultaneously yield information about a variety of skills and behaviors from several strands 7. All ofthe skils and behaviors listed are rarely pertinent to any one child. Many will not be pertinent due to the child's age ‘and developmental level, some skills may not be functional due to a child's disability, and other skils may not be necessary to assess because they are not judged to be important for a particular child 8. Ia child displays two or more consecutive skils in a strand with good quality, you can generally assume that he has achieved earlier skills due to their hierarchical relationship (with the exception of 0.0 and 1-5). Conversely, after a child Published by: VORT Corporation © 1992-2004 P.O. Box 60132, Palo Alto, CA 94306 All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 192-2004 VORT Corporation. Reproduction in any form, by any means, without the witten permission of VORT is prohibited,misses more than two consecutive skis or behaviors, you can generally assume he has not yet accomplished higher skis that particular strand. e a child may display strengths and needs within and between developmental domains, the strands wil yield a profile of approximate age levels. Use the last page inthis booklet to chart/summarize the child’ profile. 10. HELP is an ongoing curriculum-based assessment whichis not intended to be completed in one session. There ae a large ‘number of silsitems, but these may be included in curiculum planning during an ongoing intervention program which ‘may ast for up to three years. As pertinent skils and behaviors are accomplished, the strands are fled in. 1 Be sure token medal imitations preautons and contrandatons before ltevenon and assent, Many cond ing toys and materials which are meaning- |. Some sil sted may not be cuturally relevant or appropriate to assess. Specfc family interview questions have been inchided in inside HELP to promote meaningful and cutually-enstve assessment and planning. 13, Encourage families to make choices and preferences inal aspects of assessment and planing, eg, their level of decsion- ‘making, participation and involvement during the assessment, which family members and professionals to include in the assesment, time and place of assessment, and assessment content and methods 14. tnvolve a muitidsciptinary team when appropriate. Children with disables often have complex, multifaceted needs which Tequie professionals from a variety of discipines, The types and number of disciplines involved in intial assesiment and planning will depend upon the presenting concerns ofthe child, and family preferences and priorities. Parents should 115. Adapt assessment items and procedures to help ensure that a disability or delay in one are of development does not inter- fere with a true assessment of the child's capacities in other areas of development. Sample adaptations are included in Inside HELP. 16. Be sure to observe safety precautions outlined in HELP at Home and Inside HELP. Sample from Strand 1-1 (under 1.0 Cognition) Fomaar oF COLUMNS IN Tie HELP STRaKDS 1. Date assessed or accomplished 2. Credit notes, -, +/+ O (see below) 3. Skil 1D # which is used in all HELP products 4. Age range in months at which a skl typically begins; NOT when a skill begins and ends ‘5. HELP skilbehavior (in botd); brief definition (in italics) ** Ty | 115] 36 | Uses hands and mouth for sensory exploration of objects - shaking, mouthing, patting, ‘waving; regardless of function ‘71703 |+7| 439] 5.5-7 | Bangs object on table - hits any surface repetitively with object, 8/27/03] + ‘Wariations: an extra column is included in some strands to assess left and right sides, indicated by L and R; an extra column is included in 0.0 to note responses) Credit KEY (teterto Inside HELP for specific credit notes and criteria, and for suggestions to determine approximate developmental age levels) + Observed or reported. = not observed or reported. +/- appears to be an emerging skill, e.g., able to do with prompts or learned during assessment ‘A Atypical or dysfunctional. N/A_ Not applicable; not appropriate to assess or credit due to disability, family preference, culture, of, appropriately not present or, not present but item is for anticipatory guidance. (© circle any credit (.. +, A) if the physical environment or caregiver interactions compromise this area, or if caregivers request help with specific behaviors, even when appropriately present. 1's development in (Qn 0.0 Regulatory/Sensory Organization, the use of A for atypical reactions or responses offers two types of coding responses, i.e, At for over- or hyper-reactive responses, and A. for under- or hypo-reactive) See the Skills/Strand Index (page 27) to quickly find which strand(s) a skill is in. ‘See the Developmental Summary (page 28-back cover) for a listing of all the HELP Strands. uber Note: We ar posse hv ho oppo push Bis inp rss. Ns conde and comprehensive, ot we cant atpate he ‘icunsanean unr wich ener may ep ta son Eh cs ungu and maios slsan avlopa aa aoa rage ton toa fan eet ‘Siren Wo trfoe urge fat you Sook ecto) pessoal aden you tary ay cra abot 9 chs hot of SovSepment We express cine ‘ey torte tconquan, ace, ortho rete of concunlos you may reach bout acl ar ecg and epping the cores fis Boot ‘ort wocit and pbicatone ars itonad er use endareGence of potsHELP Strands © 1992-2004 VORT Corporation— 9.0 Regulatory/Sensory Organization 0.0 Regulatory/Sensory Organization (see Inside HELP - page 1) +-0 [Skill | Age* Skill/Behavior Responses Observed TOI [0-1 | Quiets when picked up — (under 3 months) calms with some external support 7.03 [ 0A | Responds td sound — enjoys and afends toa wide range of sounds 501 | 0-3 | Enjoys and heeds a great deal of physical contact and tactile stimulation — relaxes, smiles, oelizes or looks at aa 5.05_| 03 | Molds and rplaxes body when held; cuddles — shapes body fo ital asnn5 ad 7.02 [0-6 | Shows pleasure when touched and handled — tolerates routine ing, rocking TO5_| 1-2 | Inspects surfoundings — easy to engage, can remain calm & ‘focused T.07_| 13 ___[Tistens to vdice for 30 seconds — cay to engage: able fo foots 6.04_| 7-3 __| Stays awake for fonger periods without crying - usually in [pn — begins to establish sleep and feeding patterns 7.06 7-6 | Shows active Interest in person /object > 1 min. — able fo oa variety of sights, sounds & people algo in 2-44. T.15_[36 | Uses hands and mouth for sensory exploration of objects — toutes © mut fl ten 1 ye oerety of wets a 508 [36 | Stops unexplained crying — am usualy slfcalm, eg, suck fingirs, rock self sas x Enjoys social play — that irooloes movement & touch, eg, mczling ‘a "Paba-cole"; also in 5-5 T2z_| £6 | Tocalizes tactile stimulation by touching the same spot or ‘searching for object that touched body — e.g, piece of tape/p leg S18 [FS | ils fll lay — eg. Bg hp ae lols moor T34_[ 1a | Smal Tag — no aera repos Yo route odors T35_[69 | Plays 2-3 minutes with a single toy — explores with sustained attention; also in 1-1 T54_[ 9-1 | Ustens to speech without being distracted by other sources [| = typical background sights and sounds 623_| 7-12 | Drools less except when teething — also in 64 625_[ 5-12 _| Finger feeds belf — fouches[eats warily of textured foods aso 63 6.27 | 9-12 | Sleeps nights twelve to fourteen hours — usualy sleeps through Pe igh als sep wthn 20 mins ies alsin 2 629 | 105-12| Cooperates with dressing by extending arm jleg — does rok clothing touching skin, algo in 6-2 1.68 [12-18 | Enjoys messy activities — eg, water end food play 1.69] 12-18 | Reacts to varlous sensatfons such ax extremes in temperature ‘and faste ~ eg. arm, cold; swe, sour IE 199__| 16-24 _| Uses playdough and paints — freely explores ‘5.60 [18-24 | Enjoys solitary play for a few minutes — sustained attention, symbplic and purposeful ply SET [RE | Elo rough and tombe ly — ogra” Hang 7426_| Handles fragile tems carefully — eg. a drink lowers also 67 74-29_[ Enjoys taclle books — fely explores 724-36 _| Plays with water and sand — freely explores T-181 | 30:36 | Identifies faniliar objects by touch — e.g, apoon, ball, lock hidden in. T.152_| 3036_| Enjoys being Fead to and looks at books Independently 5.93 [30+ _ | Participates ig cide games; plays Interactive games — intedets; follows “rules”; also in 5-5 ‘Special Credit Notes (ase Inside HELP Yor criteria): A+ Hiyper- or overreactive Tesponse ene ‘Ac Hypo- or underreactive response ~*Bfeferences, dislikes reactions ‘©VORT Corporation 1992-2004. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form or in any manner is prohibited. 3