questionnaires are written at a fourth  to sixth grade literacy level and are available

in multiple languages (English, Spanish, French, and Korean).

36

The questionnaire

is tailored to address issues specific to the child's age.  Each questionnaire takes

approximately 10 minutes to administer.

Adaptable implementation 

The questionnaires can be mailed to the child's home; completed during a home

visit, in a physician's office/ waiting room; or completed during telephone interviews

with parents.  A health plan may choose to implement a combination of these

strategies.

Easy scoring

Scoring, which takes only one to five minutes, can be done by clerical staff or para 

professionals who have been instructed by professional staff.  To score a question 

naire, the parent's responses yes, sometimes, and not yet are converted to

points 10, 5, 0 respectively and are totaled for each area.

37

Accurate and effective

Sensitivity ranges from 70 to 90 percent at all ages except the four month level and

specificity ranges from 76 to 91 percent.

38

Cost effective

After initial purchase, users can make additional photocopies at no additional cost.

Limitations

Does not address behavioral/emotional issues; however, there is an ASQ: Social 

Emotional screen that can be used as a supplement.

Some programs may need to assess infants or children at intervals not covered by

the ASQ (e.g., one or two months of age).

39

Parents  Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS)

Advantages

Parent involvement

Uses parent concerns about their child's developmental and behavioral status and

promotes parent provider collaboration and family centered practice by eliciting

parents' concerns.

Fast and simple design

PEDS identifies when to refer, screen further, or refer for additional screening

through a questionnaire of 10 carefully constructed questions. It takes less than 10

minutes to administer and score. The questionnaire is written at a fourth  to fifth 

grade reading level and is available in multiple languages (English, Spanish,

Vietnamese).  The same 10 questions are used across the age range of PEDS from

birth to age eight.   

36

J. Squires, L. Potter, D. Bricker and S. Lamorey,  Parent Completed Developmental Questionnaires: Effectiveness With Low and Middle Income Parents.  

Early Childhood Research Quarterly 13, no. 2 (1998): 345 354.

37

J. Squires et al.   The ASQ User's Guide.  op. cit.

38

Ibid.

39

Ibid.

20