A Judge’s Guide

Developmental
Considerations
DEVELOPMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
therapists, counselors, and other professionals involved in the child’s care. Obtain
copies of any professional evaluations. You also will need the following
information from these individuals:
The date of onset of the disability and the prognosis.
How experts believe the disability impacts the child’s development.
The level of each parent’s involvement in working with the child
and his or her disability; i.e., father attends physical therapy with a
child twice per week.
The resources available for the child to address the losses, anger,
fears, and other emotions related to having a disability; i.e., the
child attends weekly group therapy with peers diagnosed with the
same disability.
How the parents communicate about the child’s needs, including
issues of transportation, special assistance, or direct work with the
child. See Chapter 4, Co-Parenting Skills.
A Developmental Approach to Decision
Making
Infancy – Birth to 18 Months
An infant is a tiny, wholly dependent human being. Highly vulnerable, infants
need parents or other primary caregivers to respond in a consistent and
predictable manner to their multiple needs. With a secure attachment to a
nurturing caregiver, infants gain a sense of trust and confidence in the world that
is essential to future development. If the world, however, seems chaotic and
unpredictable, the infant may instead become insecure and anxious.
Infants are not simply blank slates. Genetic and environmental factors need to be
considered to truly understand infants and their particular needs. Temperament,
as discussed earlier, plays an important role in how an infant perceives and reacts
to the world. But research also confirms that the infant clearly benefits from early
stimulation and interaction from caregivers, some claim even in utero, for
intellectual and emotional development. The soft, high-pitched “parentese” and
patient repetition of words is critical to the infant’s language development.
Infants are sensorimotor beings. That is, through their senses they learn to
control and interact with their environment. What may seem like small
achievements to adults are monumental to children at this stage of development.
A parent or other primary caregiver should reinforce and celebrate each milestone,
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