About
Why Project SKIP?
Project SKIP is a practical, inexpensive process for screening children as young as two years for developmental delays and cognitive and mental health concerns. The process consists of questionnaires and a multi-dimensional cognitive assessment completed online or on paper by multiple individuals in a child's life, including clinicians, teachers, and family members. Through this multi-layered approach, SKIP screens more comprehensively for issues, identifies why difficulties may be occurring, and provides the framework for designing effective, research-based interventions.
SKIP improves the identification and management of health, developmental, emotional, and behavioral issues by providing valuable clinical and treatment information and resources. The information provided through SKIP helps address family concerns and enhances any assessments performed in healthcare or educational settings.
Why Screen Children?
The need for such screening is clear. According to recent findings, millions of children in the U.S. have developmental delays or cognitive and mental health disorders that, left undiagnosed and untreated, can interfere not only with their performance in school, but also with their ability to build successful lives as adults. Yet most children, even those who see doctors regularly, are never screened for these problems.
The failure to diagnose developmental delays and cognitive and mental health problems in childhood exacts a heavy price in unnecessary suffering, and also creates substantial costs for school systems and society as a whole. As a result, the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health has recommended that screening and early intervention occur in readily accessible, low-stigma settings, such as schools, pediatrician offices, and homes. In addition, under the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) (through the provisions that require Response to Intervention (RTI)), schools should provide universal screening for behavioral and academic concerns, and that screening should in turn provide a systematic method of identifying children with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD).
At this point, however, comprehensive screening programs have yet to be implemented. Project SKIP is such a program. Using simple and inexpensive screening instruments, including a new multi-dimensional assessment instrument developed specifically for SKIP, it responds to the need for scientifically based, comprehensive screening that can be administered economically and efficiently, while preserving local autonomy.
Good Instruments Improve Detection Rates
| Without Tools | With Tools | |
|---|---|---|
| Developmental Disabilities | 30% identified Palfrey et al. J Peds. 111.651-655,1987. |
70-80% identified Squires et al. JDBP. 17:420-427, 1996. |
| Mental Health Problems |
20% identified Lavigne et al. Pediatr. 91:649-655, 1993. |
80-90% identified Sturner. JDBP. 12: 51-64, 1991 |
Only about 50% of children with developmental problems are identified before they enter school.