ages and stages questionnaire (asq)

the ages and stages questionnaire is a developmental screener, not an assessment. it is filled out by the family, not the teacher. it flags children who might benefit from further evaluation. it does not diagnose anything.

there are two: asq-3 covers communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving, and personal-social. asq:se-2 covers social-emotional development. both are published by brookes publishing.

asq-3 has 21 questionnaires from 2 to 60 months. asq:se-2 has 9 questionnaires from 1 to 72 months. the family fills out the one that matches the child's exact age at the time of screening.

for children born prematurely, adjusted age is used for asq-3 until 24 months.

each area returns a total score. the score falls into one of three zones: above the cutoff (development on schedule), between the cutoff and the monitoring zone (monitor and rescreen), or below the cutoff (refer for further evaluation).

the cutoff is not a diagnosis. it is a signal to look more closely, together with the family.

the calmest conversation is short. name what the screener showed. say what it does not mean (a diagnosis). name the next step (rescreen, refer, or nothing at all). give the family the paper and the same words in their home language if you can.

many families have never heard of a developmental screener. lead with that: this is a check-in, not a judgment.

the family fills the asq out, not the teacher. that is a design choice, not an oversight. the questions are about what the child does at home, in the bath, on the couch, at the grocery store. a family sees things a teacher does not.

the teacher's job is to hand the form to the family, explain what it is (a check-in, not a test), help with any language or literacy barriers, and score the returned form. many programs sit with the family while they fill it out. that is fine and often faster.

for children in foster care or kinship placements, the caregiver who spends the most waking time with the child is the right person to fill it out.

each item is scored yes (10), sometimes (5), or not yet (0). the area totals are compared to the cutoff for that specific age window. brookes publishes a scoring sheet for each questionnaire; do not eyeball it.

for children born more than three weeks early, use adjusted age (chronological age minus weeks premature) until 24 months for asq-3. asq:se-2 does not use adjusted age.

if a family cannot answer an item (the child has never had the chance to try it), the guidance is to give the child the opportunity that day or the next, then score. do not skip and do not assume.

"does this mean something is wrong?" no. it is a check-in at one moment in this child's life. most children screen in the on-schedule zone in every area.

"will this go on a record?" the score stays with the program and with you. it is shared with an evaluator only if the family agrees to a referral.

"can we redo it?" yes. rescreens are normal, especially in the monitoring zone. children develop in leaps.

the official asq forms stay with brookes publishing — this site does not reproduce them. tiny signals holds the tracking: which child got which questionnaire, when, what zone each area landed in, and what the follow-up is. and the scripts tool has calm, plain-language phrases for the family conversation.