Understanding a child’s growth goes far beyond measuring their height or weight. It requires a detailed examination of how they think, feel, and interact socially. This is especially critical when the child lives with unique circumstances, as is the case with Hanna. This article dives into the developmental assessment of a five-year-old girl navigating early childhood while living with autism, foster care dynamics, and limited parental interaction.
The Scope of Developmental Assessment in Early Childhood
According to Lally and Valentine-French (2019), lifespan development, or developmental psychology, is the scientific study of how and why human beings change over the course of their lives. This field tracks everything from cognitive shifts to social behavior, offering profound insights into how children and adults adapt and grow.
For children, particularly in early childhood, developmental assessments act as a roadmap. They help caregivers and specialists identify delays or advances in key domains: cognitive, psychosocial, and physical. The developmental assessment of a five-year-old like Hanna brings these domains to life and highlights where support is needed most.
Meet Hanna: Biographical Overview of the Subject
The subject of this developmental evaluation is Hanna, a five-year-old African American girl living in Irvine, California. She was adopted from foster care before turning two and now resides with her foster parents and three older siblings.
Hanna’s family dynamic is complex. Her foster father works across multiple counties and is rarely home. Her foster mother is a nurse with demanding shifts. As a result, Hanna is often under the care of extended family members. Despite living in a middle-income household and attending a public school, Hanna faces emotional and social challenges that are heightened by her autism with high support needs.
Physically, Hanna weighs approximately 45 pounds and stands 5 feet 9 inches tall. Recently, however, she’s been exhibiting antisocial behavior, such as difficulty communicating with peers and teachers, behavior that deserves a closer psychological and developmental evaluation. Conducting a developmental assessment of a five-year-old with autism, like Hanna, helps identify unique developmental needs often masked by environmental or familial dynamics.
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Hanna’s Current Developmental Age: Early Childhood
Hanna falls squarely within the early childhood stage, which ranges from ages 2 to 6 (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019). Children in this stage undergo rapid changes, including:
- Language comprehension development
- Cognitive skills acquisition
- Physical growth
- Emotional regulation
Brain maturation also accelerates during this phase, which contributes to improved balance, coordination, and decision-making abilities. This age is critical for laying the groundwork for independence, emotional control, and self-awareness. For children like Hanna, whose life is shaped by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and inconsistent caregiving, understanding this period is crucial.
Milestones, Theories, and Skills in Early Childhood Development
What Should a Five-Year-Old Be Doing?
According to multiple developmental frameworks, including Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Erikson’s psychosocial stages, the developmental assessment of a five-year-old with autism should take into account both neurotypical benchmarks and spectrum-related variations. Children in this age bracket should:
- Exhibit stronger motor coordination
- Balance on one foot
- Jump, hop, and skip
- Use writing tools effectively
- Demonstrate early reasoning and problem-solving skills
- Show awareness of time, size, and object permanence
Lally and Valentine-French (2019) underscore how children in the early childhood stage refine their gross and fine motor skills and become increasingly autonomous in basic tasks. For a child like Hanna, whose environment is full of transitions and emotional instability, these milestones can be disrupted, altered, or delayed.
Analyzing Hanna: Psychosocial, Cognitive, and Physical Functioning
Physical Development: Where Does Hanna Stand?
Based on normative benchmarks, a healthy six-year-old should weigh between 40–50 pounds and grow around 3 inches yearly (Kalat, 2016). Hanna’s current weight and height are within this expected range, even for a high-functioning autistic child, suggesting that her physical development is progressing typically.
Cognitive Functioning: The Autism Factor
Cognitive development in early childhood is characterized by the brain’s ability to process thoughts, focus emotions, and retain attention. Children in this stage should be developing language fluency, reasoning skills, and stronger memory function.
Hanna’s antisocial behavior, lack of peer interaction, and difficulties with teachers highlight potential psychosocial delays, ones that must be addressed for better academic and emotional outcomes. In some cases, such behavioral patterns may overlap with mood-related conditions like moderate depressive disorder, which can further complicate developmental assessments in children with autism.
Psychosocial Functioning: Red Flags in School
Children aged 2–6 should be forming friendships, expressing emotions, and engaging in cooperative play. For Hanna, the opposite appears true. Her antisocial behavior, lack of peer interaction, and difficulties with teachers highlight potential psychosocial delays, ones that must be addressed for better academic and emotional outcomes.
Conclusion: What Hanna’s Case Teaches Us About Developmental Psychology
The developmental assessment of a five-year-old like Hanna offers a lens into the complexities of child development, particularly for children with functional needs. Hanna’s story reinforces how physical milestones can progress normally even when cognitive and psychosocial domains fall behind.
With early childhood being such a formative stage, timely developmental assessments are essential. They help educators, healthcare providers, and parents identify red flags, set goals, and create supportive environments. In Hanna’s case, her struggles with attention, communication, and socialization underscore the need for ongoing intervention and specialized care.
References
Kalat, J. W. (2016). Biological Psychology (12th Ed.). Boston, MA: CengageLally, M., & Valentine-French, S. (2019). Lifespan development: A psychological perspective(2nd ed.). College of Lake County.
MedlinePlus. (n.d.). Developmental milestones record. MedlinePlus. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002002.htm#:~:text=Rolling%20over%2C%20crawling%2C%20walking%2C,8%20months%20in%20some%20children
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The key domains include physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development.
Yes, at 45 pounds and 45 inches tall, she falls within the average range for a five to six-year-old child.
Children with autism may have average or above-average intelligence but often face challenges in communication, attention, and processing spatial tasks.
It identifies potential developmental delays early, ensuring timely interventions and support plans that enhance a child’s learning and well-being.
