**2.5 Challenges and resources**

*Early Childhood Education*

they chase after their busy toddler.

*2.3.2 Atypical*

**2.4 Cognitive skills**

children acquire each year are amazing!

*2.4.1 Typical*

developing 6-month olds are working on sitting up with support. Around this same time, babies are attempting to roll over. As they reach 18 months, the child should be walking independently, and by 2 they should be running fairly well. At this same time, they should be able to walk up and down stairs while holding someone's hand. They can also point to pictures in a book. These interactions help build a bond between the baby and the caregiver. One welcome relief that comes around this time is the child's ability to hold his or her own cup or drink with minimal spilling. They are also able to scribble with a crayon to create "pictures." Between 2 and 3, children this age should be able to copy or make straight lines and circles with a writing utensil and string beads on yarn or string [10]. Around this age, the child should also be able to pedal a tricycle. This can give caregivers some extra exercise as

Concerns are noted when a young infant (around 3 months) is not attempting to hold its own head up for short periods of time. Better head control appears between 3 and 4 months, so if that is not happening, seek the advice of a pediatrician. If babies around 6 months of age are not attempting to sit up with support or make any attempt to roll over, there may be an underlying cause. If he or she is not using pincer grasp around to pick up small objects around 18 months of age, or he or she does not point to things using his pointer finger, these would be additional warning signs. If a child past 18 months of age does not use both hands during play, if their movements are shaky or stiff, and if they cannot imitate a caregiver drawing a vertical line, or walk independently, there may be an issue with either gross or fine motor skills. Anytime

Infant/toddler cognitive development changes very quickly. Between 0 and 6 months, an infant can recognize faces, which is a cause for cheering among caregivers. At 6 months, they start to enjoy playing games like pat-a-cake and pop-up toys. Around 8 months, fear and separation anxiety may begin [3]. As the 12-month mark approaches, babies can imitate gestures and facial expressions, which is great fun. Babies will also begin to show affection and enjoy picture books around age 1 [3]. Between 1 and 2 years of age, the child will begin to understand words and commands and may even respond to them, imitate adults' actions and words, begin to want to do things independently, and will start to respond with words when requested to complete a task. They can also understand that an object hidden under a blanket is still there even though they cannot see it. This is called object permanence [14]. Between the ages of 2 and 3, the child learns to do several things: name some objects in a book, group objects by category, stack rings in order of size, put together simple puzzles, tell others what he/she is doing, count to three, and play pretend. All of the different skills

Warning signs that a difficulty may exist for a child under a year are having problems tracking objects, not responding to sounds, having little interest in

that skills regress is another reason to seek an evaluation [10, 13].

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*2.4.2 Atypical*

One of the biggest challenges for parents of infants and toddlers with exceptionalities is getting a diagnosis. We know that a child with autism may have had up to eight wrong diagnoses before getting a correct autism diagnosis [15]. When a child is diagnosed or identified with a deficit, they are required to have an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP). This plan is meant to identify services and supports for the child and their family. Services identified in the plan are provided at no cost to the family. Below are common considerations and challenges associated with this age span, suggested actions a caregiver can take to help address the concern, and resources caregivers can use to find more information (**Tables 1** and **2**):


#### **Table 1.**

*Identifying and addressing diagnoses: challenges and actions.*


#### **Table 2.**

*Resources for infants and toddlers with special needs.*
