Use the following chart to help you identify which milestones your child has mastered and which still need work.
| Stage 1: Shared Attention & Regulation |
Always |
Sometimes |
Never |
Not under stress** |
| Shows interest in different sensations for 3+ seconds |
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| Remains calm and focused for 2+ minutes with your help |
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| Recovers from distress within 20 minutes |
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| Shows interest in you (i.e. not only in inanimate objects) |
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| Need to work more on this stage? Read again the theory and then practice |
| Stage 2: Engagement & Relating |
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| Responds to your overtures (with a smile, frown, reach, vocalization, or other intentional behavior) |
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| Responds to your overtures with obvious pleasure |
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| Responds to your overtures with curiosity and assertive interest (e.g. by studying your face) |
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| Anticipates an object that was show then removed (e.g. smiles or babbles to show interest) |
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| Becomes displeased when you are unresponsive during play |
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| Protests and grows angry when frustrated |
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| Recovers from distress with 15 minutes with your help |
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| Need to work more on this stage? Read again the theory and then practice |
| Stage 3: Purposeful Communication |
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| Responds to your gestures with intentional gestures (e.g. reaches out in a response to your outstretched arms, returns your vocalizing or look) |
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| Initiates interactions with you (e.g. reaching for your nose or hair or for a toy, raises arms to be picked up) |
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| Demonstrate the following emotions: |
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- Closeness (e.g. by hugging back when hugged, reaching out to be picked up)
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- Pleasure & Excitement (e.g. by smiling joyfully while putting finger in your point or while taking a toy from your mouth and putting it in own)
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- Assertive curiosity (e.g. by touching and exploring hair)
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- Protest or anger (e.g. by pushing food off the table or screming when desired toy not bought)
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- Fear (e.g. by turning away, looking scared, or crying when a stranger approaches too quickly)
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| Recovers from distress within 10 minutes by being involved in social interactions |
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| Need to work more on this stage? Read again the theory and then practice |
| Stage 4: Complex Communication & Problem Solving |
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| Closes 10 or more circles of communication in a row (e.g. takes you by the hand, walks you to the refrigerator, points, vocalizes, responds to your question with more noises and gestures, and continues gestural exchange until you open the door and get what he wants) |
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| Imitates your behavior in an intentional way (e.g. puts on Daddy's hat, then parades around the house waiting for admiration) |
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| Closes 10 or more circles using: |
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- reciprocal touching or holding
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- movement in space (e.g. rough-housing)
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- large motor activity (e.g. chase games, climbing games)
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- communication through space (e.g. can close 10 circles with you from accross the room)
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| Closes 3 or more circles in a row while feeling the following emotions: |
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- closeness (e.g. uses facial expressions, gestures, and vocalizations to reach out for a hug, kiss, or cuddle, or uses imitation such as talking on toy phone while you are on the real phone)
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- pleasure and excitement (uses looks and vocalizations to invite another person to share excitement over something: shares "jokes" with other children or adults by laughing together at some provocation)
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- assertive curiosity (explores independently; uses ability to communicate across space to feel close to you while exploring or playing on her own)
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- fear (tells you how to be protective, e.g., saus "No!" and runs behind you)
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- anger (deliberately hits, pinches, yells, bangs, screams, or lies on the floor to demonstrate anger; ocasionally uses cold or angry looks instead)
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- limit setting (understands and responds to your limits whether expressed through words - "No, stop that!" - or gestures - shaking finger, angry face)
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| Uses imitation to deal with and recover from distress (e.g. bangs on floor and yells after being yelled at) |
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| Need to work more on this stage? Read again the theory and then practice |
| Stage 5: Creating Emotional Ideas |
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| Creates pretend dramas with two or more ideas (e.g. trucks crash then pick up rocks, dolls hug then have a tea party). Child does not need to explain relationship between ideas |
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| Uses words, pictures, gestures to convey two or more ideas at a time (e.g. "No sleep..., play!").Child does not need to explain relationship between ideas |
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| Communicates wishes, intentions, and feelings using: |
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- multiple gestures in a row
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- touch (e.g. lots of hugging or rough-housing)
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| Plays simple motor games with rules (e.g. taking turns throwing ball) |
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| Uses pretend play or words to communicate the following emotions while expressing two or more ideas: |
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- pleasure and excitement (e.g. makes funny words then laughs)
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- assertive curiosity (e.g. makes pretend airplane zoom around room, then says it's goingto the moon)
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- fear (e.g. stages drama in which doll is afraid of loud noises and then call for mother)
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- anger (e.g. has soldiers shoot guns at one another then fall down)
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- limit setting (e.g. has dolls follow rules at tea party)
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| Uses pretend play to recover from and deal with distress (e.g. plays out eating the coockie she couldn't really have) |
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