Before your child’s checkup
Write down what you’ve noticed and what you want to ask, then print one page to bring to the visit. Checkups are short, and it’s easy to forget the question you meant to ask.
If you’re worried, you don’t have to wait for the visit.
You can call your pediatrician now. For a child under 3, you can also contact your state’s early intervention program yourself; from age 3, your local public school district. No referral is needed. What to do if you’re concerned (CDC).
This page offers educational information, not medical advice, screening, or diagnosis. It organizes what you write; it cannot see your child.
How this works
Well visits are when your child’s doctor checks on development: how your child is moving, talking, playing, and getting along. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that doctors ask about development at every well visit, use a developmental screening questionnaire at 9, 18, and 30 months, and use an autism-specific one at 18 and 24 months. Your notes help that conversation start from what you see every day.
If your child was born more than 3 weeks early, the page shows corrected age (counted from the due date) under 24 months, the way your pediatrician does. Your draft is kept in this browser until you clear it, so you can add to it over a few days.
Sources
- Lipkin PH, Macias MM, Council on Children with Disabilities. Promoting optimal development: identifying infants and young children with developmental disorders through developmental surveillance and screening. Pediatrics. 2020;145(1):e20193449.
- American Academy of Pediatrics, Bright Futures. Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care (periodicity schedule).
- CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. If you’re concerned about your child’s development.