Interactive Tools to Track Your Child's Development

When asked to measure a child's growth, weight and height instantly come to mind. But there are other areas where your child's growth should be monitored-how they play, learn, speak, and interact. A delay in any of these areas could be a sign of a developmental problem, even autism. The earlier the delay is recognized, the more you can do to help your child reach his or her full potential.

The CDC has two free interactive tools to help you watch for and record your child's developmental milestones.

The first is a Interactive Milestones Chart. It shows developmental milestones for ages 3 months to 5 years in these 7 categories:

• Social and emotional
• Movement
• Hand and finger skills
• Cognitive
• Hearing and speech
• Vision
• Language

The second tool is an Interactive Milestones Checklist. It is a checklist you can print off and record your child's development. You can easily share this checklist with your child's physician, daycare worker, or relatives who care for the child.

If you suspect your child may have a developmental problem, speak with your child's physician.

Source: CDC

Lose the Training Wheels Helping Children With Disabilities Nationwide

With the help of Lose the Training Wheels, many kids with disabilities across the nation learned how ride a 2-wheel bike this summer.

Lose the Training Wheels is a camp designed to teach individuals with disabilities to ride a two wheel bicycle and become lifelong independent riders. The training camps usually last 5 days and are hosted all over the nation.

"We take a huge 'I can't' and turn it into a huge 'I can,'" said Tom Hamilton, executive director of Lose the Training Wheels. "Most parents discover that the success their children find here infuses them with confidence."

Hamilton said they have tremendous success with children on the autism spectrum, children with Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and mental retardation. The group boasts an 85 percent success rate in teaching young people with disabilities how to ride a bike.

To learn more about the group, or to see their camp schedule, visit Lose the Training Wheels

Source: Boston.com