Learn the Signs. Act Early Campaign, It’s Time to Change How We View a Child’s Growth

By The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

While parents are very aware of changes in their young child’s physical development, such as height and weight, there are also important milestones children should reach in terms of how they play, learn, speak, and act. Early childhood educators are a vital resource to parents in identifying milestones that mark a child’s development such as smiling for the first time, making eye contact, and pointing.

A delay in any of these areas could be a sign of a developmental problem, even autism. The good news is, the earlier a delay is recognized the more you can do to help a child reach their full potential.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created the Learn the Signs. Act Early. campaign to educate parents, health care professionals, and early childhood educators about developmental milestones and warning signs of a development delay, such as autism, and the importance of acting early.

The campaign offers a FREE resource kit for early educators with a CD-ROM containing fact sheets and milestone checklists; posters; growth charts; and flyers for parents in English and Spanish. To order or download materials, click here.