Inside HELP is a comprehensive administration and reference guide to be used in conjunction with all the HELP (Hawaii Early Learning Profile: Birth-3) curriculum and assessment materials: the HELP Strands, HELP Checklist, HELP Charts, HELP Activity Guide, HELP at Home, HELP When the Parent has Disabilities, and the HELP Family-Centered Interview.
Important Notes:
The following instructions and examples provide general "rule of thumb" guidelines for determining approximate developmental levels. There are no exact rules or formulas that will apply for every child or every assessment to derive developmental levels. Use clinical judgment and item analysis in this process.
Each Strand Preface in Inside HELP provides specific strand-related information for determining and reporting developmental levels under "General Assessment Procedures."
Important Reminders:
No child is expected to display all HELP skills listed nor display all skills for an age range. Be sure to consider individual, environmental, or cultural differences per child.
The age ranges reported in HELP are the ages at which a skill or behavior (for children who do not have disabilities) typically begins according to the literature. These age ranges are not when a skill begins and ends! Some skills are time-limited and emerge into more complex skills, while others are lifetime skills. Literature varies regarding the age at which a skill emerges, for example, one source may have reported 9 month, another source 10 months, and another source 12 months. HELP would list that skill at the 9-12 month age range.
HELP is a curriculum-based assessment, not a standardized test. As such, there is no validity or reliability data available for HELP. It will not yield a definitive single age level or score. The major purpose of HELP as a curriculum assessment is to identify curriculum outcomes, strategies and activities.
If your program requires standardized scores for eligibility purposes, HELP can be used in conjunction with a standardized test (see page i.34) to help pinpoint strengths and needs, and to help develop outcomes, strategies, and activities.
1. Inside HELP is divided into seven major sections corresponding to developmental
domains. Each domain is assigned a Domain ID #
for easy cross-reference among all HELP materials.
Examples
Domains
0.0 Regulatory/Sensory Organization
1.0 Cognitive
2.0 Language
3.0 Gross Motor
4.0 Fine Motor
5.0 Social Emotional
6.0 Self-Help
2. Domains are sub-divided intoStrands.
Each strand has a number.
The Contents for Inside HELP corresponds directly to the structure of the Strands.
The upper corner or each page of Inside HELP shows the Strand, e.g., 5-1.
Domain sub-divided into Strands
1.0 Cognitive
1-1 Development of Symbolic Play
1-2 Gestural Imitation
1-3 Sound awareness
1-4 Problem Solving
3. HELP skills are sequential and developmentally ordered within each strand,
i.e., each skill leads to and builds the foundation for the next skill. Each skill
uses the HELP skill ID# for easy cross-reference.
The skill ID#'s within Strands do not always follow numerical order. This is
because the skill ID#'s are based on the original HELP Charts which were not broken
down into Strands.
Age range indicates when a skill typically emerges, not when a skill begins and
ends.
Skills are sequential within each Strand:
1-2 Gestural Imitation
Skill# Skill Description
1.42a Imitates familiar gesture
1.42b Imitates new gesture
1.66 Imitates several new gestures
1.84 Imitates invisible gesture
4. Definitions, example Observation Procedures (assessment procedures), and Credit
Criteria are listed for each skill.
Skill
1.42a Imitates familiar gesture Definition: The child makes a familiar visible gesture in imitation of a model.
A familiar gesture is a movement that the child already uses frequently during daily
activities... Example observation opportunities: Observe gestures that the child typically
makes during play or daily activities. These may be observed while assessing the
child's play interactions... Credit:
+ imitates at least two familiar visible
gestures
5. Each Strand Has a Preface in Inside HELP. The strand Preface provides 10
key sections of assessment information related to all skills within the strand.
Examples
"Family Friendly" Interpretation of Strand Concepts, Assessment, and
Purpose
A jargon-free definition and interpretation of the underlying strand concept. This
includes a clear explanation of what you are assessing and why it is important to
the child's development.
"Family
Friendly" Interpretation We will be observing how your child is learning to play with toys and other objects.
Play is very important in a child's learning and development. Play helps children
learn how to solve...
Professional FYI
Various information about the strand which may be helpful or important for the professional,
e.g., the relationship of this strand to other strands or domains, special considerations,
rationale for inclusion of certain skills, etc.
Professional
FYI 1. This strand focuses on the child's interaction with objects and toys leading
to the development of symbolic play. Social interactions and play with other children
and adults, although closely related, is not highlighted...
Parent Questions
Sample questions to facilitate a family-directed
assessment of their child's unique strengths and needs as well as family concerns,
priorities and resources related to enhancing their child's development. These questions
help identify family roles, beliefs, and values as they relate to the development
of their child, and family preferences regarding the assessment process and content.
Parent
Questions * Can you tell me a little about how he plays with some of the toys you mentioned?
* Are there certain toys that he does not seem to like?
* Has he ever played with the kind of toys we have here today?
Sample functional outcome statements which may be generated by the family
and related to the strand concepts, skills and behaviors.
These are only samples to help move away from the more rigid operational objectives
that many of us were trained to develop. The actual outcome statements you use are
those generated directly from the family through sensitive interview and active listening
techniques.
Sample
functional outcome
statements
My child will:
* Enjoy playing with toys;
* Play with his friends at daycare;
* Play with a toy for more than a few
seconds;
* Play with his toys instead of always
putting them in his mouth.
We will:
* Know what objects around home our child will enjoy playing with;
* Know more about the ways our child can learn through play.
Transactional Assessment of environment and caregiver interactions
This section offers examples of key factors in the child's caregiving environment
which can promote or compromise the child's development. This section is also useful
to review the professional's own interactions and environment in the assessment and
interventions provided to children and
families.
Transactional
Assessment 1. Supportive:
The child's caregiving environments usually:
* Have a variety of safe and develop-
mentally appropriate play materials;
* Have safe spaces for the child to play;
* Keep play materials accessible to the child.
2. Compromising:
* The child's caregiving environments usually do not have safe or developmentally
appropriate toys or materials.
Identifying and Interpreting Needs
Help in sorting out why a child may display
a delay or atypical behavior in a particular strand. This will help determine what
types of interventions are most appropriate.
Identifying
and Interpreting Needs If a child is significantly delayed or displays persistent atypical development
in this area, he may be having difficulty with mental processes needed to engage
in meaningful play with objects. This includes being able to:
1. Perceptually discriminate the qualities and functions of objects;
2. Mentally represent or internalize an action or object that is not present, i.e.,
representational thought.
Assessment Adaptations
Examples of adaptations for specific disabilities and special needs to use when assessing
skills and behaviors in the strand.
Assessment
Adaptations Motor impairments: involve a pediatric therapist in the assessment of the child's
play so that the therapist can adapt materials and positioning to meet the child's
individual needs and promote
interactions and mobility with toys. The following are some general adaptations:
Use play materials, battery-operated toys, and touch-sensitive switches that can
be easily manipulated and adapted to accommodate the child's type of grasp. Larger
or stabilized materials may help.
General child assessment procedures
Assessment procedures which are applicable to all skills in the strand. Although
each skill also has specific assessment procedures, there are some procedures which
are applicable to all the Strand's skills and are included in the Preface to avoid
redundancy.
General
child assessment procedures a. Most items in this strand can be assessed simultaneously, i.e., observe the
child's interactions with the objects and toys until he becomes repetitive in his
play and is not displaying higher level interactions. Credit predominant play interactions
accordingly.
b. Provide the child with some of the "example eliciting play materials"
that are suggested under the procedure for each item in this strand.
Credit notes
Suggestions for documenting the presence or absence of particular skills and behaviors.
Although specific credit criteria is included for each skill, there are general credit
notes which are applicable to all skills in the strand and are thus included in the
Preface to avoid redundancy.
Credit notes + child displays defined play interaction as a predominant interaction; not observed
or reported.
+/- appears to be an emerging play scheme; displayed play scheme with adult prompting
and modeling, but it is not considered a predominant scheme.
Assessment Materials
A list of materials and toys which are likely to elicit responses for assessment
of skills within the strand. The materials listed are typically available in the
child's natural environments. Notes are included to use materials which are culturally
relevant, safe, and motivating.
Assessment
Materials Birth to approximately 1 year:
Several easy-to-grasp toys which have different textures, sounds, and consistencies.
Examples include: smooth plastic rattles; small blocks, some that have different
pictures on the sides, such as alphabet blocks; soft textured squeak toy; crumpled
piece of paper; dinner bell; plastic cup; toy cars; small doll.
"Family
Friendly" Interpretation
Professional
FYI
Parent
Questions 
Sample
functional outcome 
Transactional
Assessment
Identifying
and Interpreting Needs
Assessment
Adaptations
General
child assessment procedures
Assessment
Materials