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Screenings and Child Find

Screenings and Child Find
Every month, a developmental screening is offered to all of Branford’s preschool-age children. Families can have their child screened at any point throughout the school year. A child may be referred for a screening to address parental concerns or to be considered as a peer mentor for our integrated Pre-K classrooms. Developmental screenings address speech and language, fine motor, gross motor, cognitive, social-emotional, and self-help skills. The screening is used to determine if additional assessment may be appropriate. Please note the children need to be 3-years old when they attend the screening. Appointments can be made before the child turns 3, but we will wait to screen them until they are the appropriate age. To schedule an appointment for a developmental screening, please contact Lyndsay O’Neill: loneill@branfordschools.org or call 203-315-3540. If your child is not yet age 3 and you would like to get information about special education services for them, please refer to CT’s Birth to 3 website: https://www.birth23.org/. 

Child Find is a program in Connecticut that helps identify, locate, and evaluate children with disabilities. It's part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004, which requires all states to have a Child Find system. Parents, teachers, or other school personnel can refer a child for evaluation. The evaluation includes gathering information about the child’s health, hearing, vision, and more. A child may be eligible for special education and related services if they have a disability that requires special education. Child Find is an important avenue to pursue if your child seems to fit any of the following:

  • they’ve been diagnosed with a health or medical condition that interferes with their development, their ability to interact with others, and/or their ability to learn;

  • their speech is not understood by family or friends, and they have a hard time communicating verbally;

  • they appear to have social-emotional, behavioral, or other difficulties that do not seem the same as other children of the same age.