Prenatal

Perlicia Terry

ECE497: Childhood Development Capstones Course

Instructor: Carly Davenport

April 10, 2017

 Prenatal

Explains at least two physical developmental milestones that typically developing children
should attain during this period of development.

The growth of the fetus in the abdomen creates physical changes in the interior of the
body. As the baby grows larger, the fetus will spread up into the abdomen and down into the
kidney area of the body, this growth causes the organs of the body to adjust into a smaller space,
(Babymed.com). When a mom is expecting during the seventh month period a baby first touch
receptors is being developed in their lips and cheeks. Within the next few months it will spread
throughout their body by the time the mom reaches week 32 their touch receptor has become
sensitive to temperature, pain, and pressure. By week fifteen to eighteen weeks your baby
already possesses mature taste buds they are able to detect strong flavors in the amniotic fluid,
and will increase her swallowing in response to sweet tastes, (Brill baby).

Explains at least two language developmental milestones that typically developing children
should achieve in this period of development.

A baby learns language development in an environment where their parents communicate

with them while being in their belly by conversations, reading stories, and singing songs. These
skills are develop best in a world that is rich with sounds, sights, and consistent exposure to the
speech and language of others, (National Institute of Health). In addition to iconicity in speech,
spoken languages are usually accompanied by the so-called iconic gestures, which are manual
depictions of the objects and events described in co-occurring speech (e.g., a curved handshape
moving toward the mouth accompanying the verb drink; McNeill, 1992). Infants across different
cultures are sensitive to the iconic properties of words irrespectively of whether they are present
in their own language or not have been found to facilitate phonological and lexical development,
(Imai & Kita, 2014). The abundance of sound-symbolic words in the emerging vocabularies of
speaking infants is more prevalent than previously attested, and seem to contribute significantly
in lexical acquisition (e.g., Laing, 2014). Research suggests that the first 6 months of life are the
most crucial to a childs development of language skills in order for a person to become fully
competent in any language, exposure must begin as early as possible, preferably before school
age, (National Institute of Health).
Explains at least two cognitive developmental milestones that typically developmental children
should achieve in this period of development.

There is a need to emply direct measures of parenting in a naturalistic context (e.g.,

analyses of language recordings in the home) as well as develop measures of specific activities
and experiences that promote different dimensions of early cognitive development. Studies
using purely auditory tasks (tasks in which the target and deviant features are embedded within
the same stimulus, e.g., where participants must judge the duration of a sound while ignoring
rare and irrelevant pitch changes) tend to show no age-related differences, (Getzmann, S.,
Gajewski, P. D., & Falkenstein, M. 2013), More specifically, the reorientation of attention
following its automatic capture by the task-irrelevant sound and the reactivation of the relevant
task-set when the task-relevant target appears may be underpinned by working memory
processes (e.g., Munka & Berti, 2006; Hlig & Berti, 2010).

Explains at least one sign that may signal atypical development during this period of
development.

When prefrontal cortex and related systems are disrupted because of injury, stress, or
disease, executive and socio-moral difficulties can surface and be challenging to remediate,
although researchers continue to examine treatment options, (Catanzaro, B. C. and Eslinger, P. J.
2016), Research has demonstrated that frontal lobe abnormality and poor executive control
likely play a significant role in the atypical development of social, emotional, and
communication functions in ASD (Cheng et al., 2010; Just, Keller, Malave, Kana, & Varma,
2012). Fetal alcohol syndrome has been recognized as causing not only facial dysmorphia and
growth deficiency but also brain alterations that underlie executive function and social
impairments (Kully-Martens, Denys, Treit, Tamana, & Rasmussen, 2012; Ware et al., 2012).

Describes at least one strategy that families can use to influence their childrens learning and
development during this period of development.

The processes of joint attention, parental emotional responsiveness, scaffolding, and

encouraging modeling behaviors may facilitate the development of self-regulation, a sense of
agency, and flexible behaviors. Later, turn-taking, sharing, introducing problem solving
strategies, and earning rewards introduces other potential building blocks to executive function
(see, e.g., Bernier, Carlson & Whipple, 2010).
Reference

Barrasso-Catanzaro, Christina; Eslinger, Paul J Social-Emotional Development: Typical and

Atypical Brain Changes 2016.

Berk, L. E. (2013). Child development. (9th ed.). Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu

Middlemiss, Wendy; Barrasso-Catanzaro, Christina; Eslinger, Paul J.In: Family Relations. Feb

2016, Vol. 65 Issue 1, p108, 12 p.; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc. Language: English,

Database: Expanded Academic ASAP