Comments on: You’re at an Assessment and the Child is Hiding…What Do You Do?

By: Dana Childress, M.Ed.

Dana Childress, M.Ed. — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:13:53 +0000

This is SUCH a great point, Mary Ellen! As friendly and kind as early interventionists try to be, we are still strangers. There is a best practice idea that a child should never be evaluated by a stranger but it’s almost impossible to do that on the initial evaluation. One time I was doing an eval with a team and the father came home unexpectedly. He opened the front door, looked in at the 3 strangers sitting on his living room floor, looked at his wife with big eyes and a puzzled expression, then closed the door and drove away. I think we freaked him out! Hopefully we didn’t make too many children feel that way! 🙂

By: Mary Ellen Plitt

Mary Ellen Plitt — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 22:05:41 +0000

Great ideas! Taking this onto another perspective, I have to think about what it must be like for that child. If, for instance, what if my husband comes in with 2-4 strangers – only one who he may be familiar with (I can tell!). They lead me to the yard to do some yard work, and bring along a shovel and a hedge clipper, in case mine isn’t up to par. Now, I like yard work, but not keen on people I don’t know watching me and talking about me (“Does she always put her foot on the shovel like that, or can she get her back into it?”). I, myself, need to think about how it might feel before I start fishing that little one out of the play house.

By: Dana Childress, M.Ed.

Dana Childress, M.Ed. — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:16:17 +0000

In reply to Kathleen Davis.

Hiding under the cushions…that’s a new one for me! 🙂 I’m glad you were able to use strategies like these and they worked! Did you find any one strategy to work best?

By: Kathleen Davis

Kathleen Davis — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:13:37 +0000

My team member and I had just this circumstance at a recent eval, only the child hid under the couch cushions! All of the above strategies were used, with some success with each!
Nice to know that we’re on the right track when such situations occur.
Thanks for the topic!

By: Dana Childress, M.Ed.

Dana Childress, M.Ed. — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:16:39 +0000

In reply to Lauren Simmons.

I agree, Lauren, that patience is the key. I would add flexibility too – like you said, you were doing something but maybe it was not what a “typical” visit looks like. Moving at the child’s pace and being creative are must-have skills for an early interventionist, especially when working in a situation like this. Sounds like you have them both!

By: Lauren Simmons

Lauren Simmons — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:15:34 +0000

I have done an entire visit (not an assessment) with a child (actually multiple visits, same child) with a child who hid. Same child also used to like me to sit in a different part of the house. I learned to just go with it and talk about what this child was doing and also talk about what I was doing. Eventually, said child would come around. It took a LONG time but patience was the key. I had to remind myself we were doing something….and we were–it just wasn’t how I “thought” it should go.