WTF? Assesing 2 year olds for special needs

[TheRealMBJ]

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8618476/Two-year-olds-to-be-given-compulsory-education-checks.html

Surely this is too young to 'label' a child as special needs and certain SN (like the Autistic spectrum) cannot even be diagnosed until 3. This seems like a step backwards to me.so much for criticism of labour's 'Nappy curriculum'

ouryve I have learnt a lot on this thread and if you read the whole thing you will see that I have apologised more than once for the misinformed opinion I voiced.

No, I do not disagree with early intervention, rather I disagree with a patchy, poorly thought out, non-standardised 'assesment' that causes anxiety and distress without leading to early intervention.

MmeLindor has really been a lot more eloquent in stating a similar opinion in her blog.

I really liked the blog link. I think the checks are a good idea but only if they are done properly. I agree too that there needs to be intervention available rather than the usual fobbing off that many parents get.

Under the current system there is very little help out there even for children who are at a higher risk of SN. When dd1 was born she had two older brothers who had been dx'ed with ASD. Her 2yr 'check' consisted of nothing more than a checklist sent through the post.

The only time any HCPs showed an interest was when she didn't put weight on quickly enough for their liking. When it comes to weight gain the HVs are extremely keen. When it comes to potential SN it's very difficult to get them to take parents seriously.