"Carter," a 3-year-old boy, participated in a recent free developmental screening sponsored by Bona Vista's Positive Results Therapies. The developmental screenings included testing the child's fine and gross motor skills, hearing, language, vision, social development, self-help skills and cognitive development. Carter's mom brought him to the screening because she felt that something wasn't quite right with her son's development. She had concerns about his hearing because he didn't seem to respond to direction or listen appropriately.

After thoroughly assessing Carter's development, the therapists conducting the screening also noted concerns, and suggested that Carter's mom follow up with his pediatrician. Carter was diagnosed as having Autism Spectrum disorder. This impacted his fine and gross motor skills, and speech/language abilities. Carter also had difficulty processing sensory information, meaning that he interpreted sights, sounds and textures differently than other children might.

Carter's pediatrician referred him for Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy, which he receives through Bona Vista's Positive Results Therapies in an interdisciplinary setting.

The hope is that, through early intervention, Carter will be ready to start kindergarten in a typical classroom with his peers.

The free developmental screenings are held several times each year in Kokomo, thanks to United Way funding.
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