The Natchez-Adams School District offers free developmental and speech screenings for all children age 3 to 5 years in Adams County.

It is estimated that one of every 10 Americans is affected by developmental or communication disorders. An estimated 2 percent of all newborns each year have a disabling condition that may have a major impact on personal, social or academic skills. Early identification and treatment of developmental delays in adaptive (self-help), personal-social, gross motor, fine motor, receptive language, expressive language, cognition and speech intelligibility can lead to success academically.

Adaptive skills needed by age 3 years include feeding self with fork or spoon independently and putting toys away when asked. Social skills are responding appropriately and differently with familiar and unfamiliar people.

At age 3 a child should correctly respond to the prepositions “out” and “on” and use two-word utterances for effective language usage.

A gross motor skill needed is the ability to run 10 feet without falling. Fine motor skills may be scribbling with lines and circles spontaneously.

Cognitive skills include finding hidden objects and nesting objects inside one another. By age 3 a child should correctly pronounce the sounds n, h, p, ng, f, y, k, d, w, b, t and g for acceptable speech intelligibility.

Registration at West Primary School beings Tuesday. Registration times are from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. Parents should bring an original birth certificate, Social Security card, two proofs of address and Form 121 to adequately register. Form 121 is your child’s immunization record and must be obtained from your child’s physician or the Adams County Health Department.

Children who will be 3 years old by Sept. 1, must be screened before attending preschool at West Primary School. Only children who have not attended preschool or kindergarten during the 2010-2011 school year should be screened. Screenings will be conducted at West Primary School May 17 through June 14.

NASD speech-language pathologists will perform the screenings by appointment only.

Screenings will be conducted for first year students at A.J.F.C. Thompson Head Start June 1-28. Only children who did not attend the 3-year-old program at Head Start during the 2010-2011 school year will be screened.

Parents will be contacted by telephone to schedule appointments. Call 601-445-2843 for further information or to make an appointment for your child.

The Natchez-Adams School District supports early intervention. Skills gained between the ages of 3 and 5 years provide the basic for academic excellence. If your child plans to attend any day care, preschool or kindergarten in Adams County, mark your calendars now for a free speech/developmental screening for the 2011-2012 school year. Every child is deserving of individual success!

Ruth Anderson is the Natchez-Adams School District’s lead speech language pathologist.