Samantha Wardell

FHS 1500
Essay 2
QUESTION
MILESTONE CHARTS
You have two good friends who both have thirteen-month-old children. One parent proudly
states that her child was able to walk at ten months. The other parent sadly states that her child
has not yet started walking. It is obvious from the conversation that the parent of the walking
child believes her child to be advanced and that the parent of the non-walking child is deeply
concerned about her childs lack of progress. What do you tell these parents?
ANSWER
I have two friends who both have 13 month old kids. My friend Carly says that her son
started walking at 10 months. Sydney is feeling a little nervous because her son hasnt started to
walk yet. Carly thinks that her son is very advanced and will be so smart when he gets older and
Sydney is feeling worried that her son might not be as smart as Carlys because her son hasnt
started to walk yet.
I sit down with the two and tell them about the milestone charts online. I explain to the
about the Norms which are an average, or standard, measurement, calculated form the
measurements of many individuals within a specific group of population (Berger, 2014, p. 92). I
show them that the 50th percentile for your child to be able to walk well is 13 months and that the
90th percentile for children to start walking well is 17 months (Berger, 2014, p. 104). I explain to
them that Carlys son started walking a little early and Sydney shouldnt be worried yet. I told
her to give it a couple more months and if it is coming up on 17 months, then she should go see
her pediatrician and ask him what he thinks about it then. I also let Carly know that just because
he son started walking early, doesnt mean that she should expect him to be the best at
everything. Most likely, there will be something that he might be a little bit behind at and told her
to be aware in case there is. I told them to both check these milestone charts if they are ever
unsure and after they checked them and they are still worried, they can check with their
pediatrician.
Children develop at all different speeds and in all different ways. It is important to check
out a milestone chart when you are unsure about your childs development to see what percentile
your child falls under. If they are a very high percentile, then you might want to go check with
your childs pediatrician to get a better opinion. Also, if your child was at a very low percentile
and completed the task or developed in a specific area early and shoots up to the 50th percentile
very fast, that is something to be worried about as well. Even though the 50th percentile is the
norm, if your childs development is moving that fast, then that might be something to be
worried about. For example. If your child was substantially taller than all the other kids by the
time they were 3 (maybe the 20th percentile) and by the time he was 4 all the other children
caught up to him and he was in the 50th percentile. You might want to check with your doctor just
to make sure everything is normal even though he is in the normal percentile. There might be
nothing wrong at all, but it is better to be safe than sorry. You want to know about the problems
and delays as soon as you can so you can fix them as soon as you can.

Sources
Berger, Kathleen Stassen. Invitation to the Lifespan: With Dsm5 Update. 2nd ed. S.l.: Worth Pub,
2014. Print.