ABSTRACT
Identifying problems in young children is not always an easy task. The purpose of identification of problems is action. Unless some action can follow there is little point in undertaking the programme of identification. Any particular screening process should be aimed at a specific problem. Any investigation of a child's development must be of a form which is acceptable to both the child and the parents. To discover that half of those children thought to have learning problems are in fact normal is at best wasteful, and at worse damaging, in that those children might then have been given inappropriate help. Assessment refers to the detailed appraisal of an individual child on specific dimensions. Assessment has many of the attributes outlined in common with screening. Assessment is normally carried out by professionals who are more highly trained with respect to the problem at hand.
