Trauma-informed Child Developmental Milestones guide published

Berry Street Take Two has launched its Child Developmental Milestones Guide: Foundations for Practice.

Previously developed just for our own clinicians and therapeutic specialists, the guide has been updated and is now being shared with others caring for children or working in the field.

The trauma-informed guide explains key stages of child development and is designed for use by practitioners working with children.

Healthy child development supports wellbeing throughout life and an evidence-based understanding of child development is an essential component of good practice when working with children. Having a good grounding in typical child development helps identify delays or differences so they can be monitored and addressed if needed.

The guide covers the biological, psychological and social changes that occur in children from before birth to the end of adolescence, as they progress from total dependence on caregivers to the interdependence of adulthood.

It is broken down by age groups and into distinct domains of development:

• cognitive
• speech and language
• social and relational
• emotional
• physical and sensory
• sleep.

Dr Mishel McMahon, a Yorta Yorta woman and Senior Research Fellow at La Trobe Rural Health School also provided specialist expertise about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-specific developmental milestones to ensure the guide is culturally appropriate for the First Nations Australian children and families.

The guide is free to download and print and will be a valuable resource for anyone working with infants, children, young people and their families.

This resource has been developed by Berry Street Take Two’s developmental specialists, including an occupational therapist, neuropsychologist, speech pathologist and clinical psychologist.

About Berry Street Take Two

Take Two is a trauma-informed mental health service with 20 years of experience working with infants, children, young people and families who have experienced complex trauma.