Method and system for assessing developmental age of children

Abstract

This document discloses an improved system and a method performed by the system for generating a developmental age scale for children by assessing six developmental dimensions. The method includes the following steps: (a) selecting a first set of items to generate a first item table corresponding to a first age range; (b) calculating a first score on the first item table; (c) based on the first score calculated in step (b), selecting a second set of items from the same item bank as the first set of items in step (a) to generate a second item table; (d) calculating a second score on the second item table; (e) determining the child's developmental age in the corresponding developmental dimension based on the second score calculated in step (d); and (f) repeating steps (a) to (e) to generate the assessment scale. This document also relates to a method for treating children with developmental delays by providing early intervention to the child.

Description

Method and System for Evaluating the Developmental Age of Children The present disclosure relates to a method and system for evaluating the developmental age of children. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method for determining whether a child has a developmental delay (DD) by evaluating multiple developmental aspects and a method for treating children with developmental delays through early intervention therapy. The incidence of childhood developmental delay is increasing year by year. In addition to congenital factors, the influence of后天 environmental factors leading to developmental delay is also a problem worthy of attention. The effectiveness of treating childhood developmental delay depends on whether caregivers can detect problems and seek assistance as early as possible, so as to take relevant treatment interventions to solve the problems. However, the changes in the composition of family members and the care model in today's society have also introduced adverse environmental factors that may accelerate developmental delay. The current child development assessment tools used clinically are relatively limited and simplified. These assessment tools are only effective for individuals who have already shown obvious signs of developmental delay, but cannot be evaluated and monitored in the initial stage of development. Moreover, the lack of a comprehensive and integrated long-term tracking system also hinders the effective utilization of medical and social resources in different regions. In view of the above, there is an urgent need in the relevant field for a novel system for comprehensively evaluating child development and a treatment method for treating children in need through early intervention therapy. For the reader's basic understanding, the following provides a brief summary of the present disclosure. This summary is not a broad overview of the present disclosure, nor is it used to identify the key / essential elements of the present invention or outline the scope of the present invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the present disclosure in a simplified conceptual form as a prelude to the more detailed description presented later. As embodied and widely described herein, the purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a novel system and method for determining the developmental age of a child by means of a feedback loop and through evaluating six developmental aspects. In this way, the system of the present disclosure can timely provide accurate information about the child's neurodevelopment, and appropriate treatment for the child in need can be intervened in a timely manner. One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a system for generating a rating scale for a child's developmental age by evaluating six developmental aspects. The system includes a user interface configured to receive an external input response; a storage unit configured to store six question banks, each corresponding to one of the six developmental aspects, wherein each question bank includes a plurality of questions independently corresponding to an age range from 0 to 72 months; and a processor communicatively connected to the user interface and the storage unit. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor is configured to execute instructions programmed in the processor by performing the following actions: (a) selecting a first set of questions corresponding to the same age range from any of the question banks stored in the storage unit to generate a first question list corresponding to a first age range; (b) calculating a first score of the first question list based on the external input answers of the first question list in step (a); (c) based on the first score calculated in step (b), selecting a second set of questions from the question bank selected in step (a) to generate a second question list, wherein the second set of questions is different from the first set of questions, and the second question list corresponds to a second age range that is ascending or descending from the first age range; (d) calculating a second score of the second question list based on the external input answers of the second question list in step (c); (e) determining a developmental age of the child in the corresponding developmental aspect based on the second score calculated in step (d); and (f) repeating steps (a) to (e) until the developmental ages of the six developmental aspects are collected, thereby generating the rating scale of the child's developmental age. In a preferred embodiment, each age range differs from the next age range by two months. In some specific embodiments, in step (a) of the actions performed by the processor, the first age range encompasses the chronological age of the child. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in step (c) of the actions performed by the processor, when the first score calculated in step (b) is less than a standard score, the second age range corresponding to the second question list is descending from the first age range. Accordingly, in step (d) of the actions, when the first score calculated in step (b) is less than the standard score, the actions further include (d-i) repeatedly generating at least one new question list by selecting a new set of questions different from the first set of questions and the second set of questions until the calculated score of the new question list is greater than the standard score for the first time, wherein the new age range corresponding to the new question list is descending from the previous age range. Furthermore, in step (e) of the actions performed by the processor, the developmental age of the child in the corresponding developmental aspect is determined based on the new age range corresponding to the new question list. Specifically, if the developmental age of the child is less than the chronological age of the child, it is determined that the child has a developmental delay (DD) in the corresponding developmental aspect. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, in step (c) of the actions performed by the processor, when the first score calculated in step (b) is less than a standard score, the second age range corresponding to the second question list is descending from the first age range. Accordingly, in step (d) of the processor performing an action, when the first score calculated in step (b) is greater than the standard score, the developmental age of the child is determined based on the second score of the second question set in step (d), and the developmental age is equal to the second age interval corresponding to the second question set in step (c). According to some specific embodiments, in step (e), if the second score calculated in step (d) is less than the standard score, it is determined that the developmental age of the child conforms to the chronological age of the child. According to other specific embodiments, in step (e), if the second score calculated in step (d) is greater than the standard score, it is determined that the developmental age of the child is greater than the chronological age of the child. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor of the system of the present disclosure is configured to further perform an automatically detected action for evaluating the reliability and validity of steps (a) to (e). In a specific example, the automatic detection is performed by executing a deep learning algorithm. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first set of questions and the second set of questions each have no more than four questions. Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for measuring and treating developmental delay (DD) in children by evaluating six developmental aspects. The method includes: (a) providing six question banks respectively corresponding to six developmental aspects, wherein each question bank includes a plurality of questions, and each of the plurality of questions respectively corresponds to an age interval of 0 to 72 months; (b) selecting a first set of questions corresponding to the same age interval from any of the question banks in step (a) to generate a first question set corresponding to a first age interval; (c) calculating a first score of the first question set based on the answers received for the first question set in step (b); (d) based on the first score calculated in step (c), selecting a second set of questions from the question bank selected in step (b) to generate a second question set, wherein the second set of questions is different from the first set of questions, and the second question set corresponds to a second age interval that is ascending or descending from the first age interval; (e) calculating a second score of the second question set based on the answers received for the second question set in step (d); (f) determining a developmental age of the child in the corresponding developmental aspect based on the second score calculated in step (e); (g) repeating steps (b) to (f) until the developmental ages of the six developmental aspects are collected, thereby measuring the degree of developmental delay of the child; and (h) providing an early intervention for the child based on the degree of developmental delay measured in step (g) to treat the developmental delay. In some specific examples, each age interval differs from the next age interval by two months. In other specific embodiments, the first age range encompasses the chronological age of the child. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of questions in the first set of questions and the second set of questions does not exceed four respectively. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in step (d) of the method of the present disclosure, when the first score calculated in step (c) is less than a standard score, the second age range corresponding to the second question set is decremented from the first age range. Accordingly, after step (e), the method of the present disclosure further includes (e-i) when the first score in step (c) is less than the standard score, by selecting a new set of questions different from the first set of questions and the second set of questions, repeatedly generating at least one new question set until the calculated score of the new question set is greater than the standard score for the first time, wherein the new age range corresponding to the new question set is decremented from the previous age range. Accordingly, in step (f) of the method of the present disclosure, the developmental age of the child in the corresponding developmental aspect is determined based on the new age range corresponding to the new question set. In a preferred specific embodiment, if the developmental age of the child is less than the chronological age of the child, it is determined that the child has developmental delay in the corresponding developmental aspect. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, when the first score calculated in step (c) is greater than a standard score, the second age range corresponding to the second question set is incremented from the first age range. Accordingly, when the first score calculated in step (c) is greater than the standard score, step (f) of the method of the present disclosure further includes (f-i) determining the developmental age of the child based on the second score calculated in step (e), wherein the developmental age is equal to the second age range corresponding to the second question set in step (d). According to a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, in step (f-i), if the second score calculated in step (e) is less than the standard score, it is determined that the developmental age of the child conforms to the chronological age of the child. Optionally or alternatively, still in step (f-i), if the second score calculated in step (e) is greater than the standard score, the developmental age of the child is determined to be greater than the chronological age of the child. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of early intervention in step (h) include speech therapy, occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), behavioral therapy, early childhood special education (ECSE), sensory integration therapy, psychotherapy, alternative and augmentative communication (AAC), and combinations thereof. In some non-essential or alternative embodiments of the present disclosure, the method of the present disclosure further includes performing an automatic detection for evaluating the reliability and validity of steps (b) to (f). In some specific embodiments, the automatic detection is performed by executing a deep learning algorithm. Through the above configuration, the system and method for generating a child development age assessment form and treating children with developmental delays can provide real-time and accurate child development information, thereby increasing the efficiency and accuracy of early intervention for children with developmental delays. After referring to the following embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can easily understand the basic spirit and other inventive purposes of the present invention, as well as the technical means and implementation aspects adopted by the present invention. To make the description of the present disclosure more detailed and complete, the following provides an illustrative description of the implementation aspects and specific embodiments of the present invention; however, this is not the only form for implementing or applying the specific embodiments of the present invention. The implementation aspects cover the features of multiple specific embodiments and the method steps and their sequences for constructing and operating these specific embodiments. However, other specific embodiments can also be used to achieve the same or equivalent functions and step sequences. 1. Definitions For ease of explanation, specific terms described in this specification, the embodiments, and the appended claims are collectively explained herein. Unless otherwise defined herein, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a (a, an)" and "the" used herein both include the plural forms. As used herein, the terms "child", "young child", or "kid" are used to refer to a human being in an early stage of development, typically under six years of age. The term "child" as used in this disclosure is intended to cover infants from birth to 12 months old, toddlers from 1 to 3 years old, preschoolers between 3 and 5 years old, and 6-year-old school-age children. As used in this disclosure, the term "age range" refers to a specific time interval defined within a period. According to an embodiment of this disclosure, the age range is an equal-time interval within the range of 0 to 72 months (i.e., under six years old). For example, each time interval can be one month, two months, or three months, and each age range does not overlap with its adjacent age range. According to a specific embodiment, the age range is two months. As used herein, the term "developmental domain" is intended to be used to measure different aspects of the physical and psychological growth and development of children. Exemplary developmental domains include physical, cognitive, language, and social-emotional domains. According to an embodiment of this disclosure, the six developmental domains used in the evaluation of the present invention are specifically gross motor skill, fine motor skill, language comprehension, language expression, cognitive development, and social-emotional development. As used herein, the term "developmental age" refers to the developmental age determined by the system of this disclosure for a child who has undergone the development evaluation process described in this disclosure. The determination is based on the answers provided by the child being evaluated to questions regarding the developmental stages demonstrated for each of the six developmental domains. Depending on the evaluation, the developmental age may or may not match the actual chronological age of the child (i.e., the actual age). As used herein, the term "developmental delay (DD)" not only covers the clinically distinguishable signs or symptoms of developmental disorders, but also includes the situations of children who, as evaluated by the system and / or method of this disclosure, have not reached the developmental stages expected for their actual chronological age. Specifically, after being evaluated by the method and / or system of this disclosure, if the developmental age of a specific developmental domain lags behind the chronological age of the child, he / she will be determined to have a developmental delay (DD). In this article, terms such as "treatment", "therapy", and "habilitation" may be used interchangeably and encompass partial or complete prevention, improvement, alleviation, and / or control of symptoms, secondary diseases, or conditions associated with a child's developmental delay. 2. Specific Embodiments Clinically, a child's developmental status is evaluated through six developmental aspects, which include gross motor skills, fine motor skills, language comprehension, language expression, cognitive development, and social-emotional. To improve the accuracy of the assessment results, the present disclosure aims to provide a comprehensive assessment system with self-assessment reliability and validity feedback capabilities, enabling timely monitoring and early intervention. This article also discloses a method for determining and treating children with developmental delay (DD) by means of the aforementioned system and method. 2.1 System and Method for Evaluating a Child's Developmental Age One aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a system and method for obtaining a child's developmental age. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 for reference. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram depicting the system 10 for implementing the method 20 of the present disclosure, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the method 20 executed by the system 10 of the present invention. The system 10 of the present invention includes a user interface 110, a storage unit 120, and a processor 130, wherein the user interface 110 and the storage unit 120 are respectively coupled to the processor 130. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user interface 110 is configured to receive an external input response from a user. In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, the user interface 110 may be a computer window, an online web page, or a mobile application. The storage unit 120 is configured to store six question banks respectively corresponding to the six developmental aspects, and each question bank includes a plurality of questions. The processor 130 is configured to execute instructions programmed within the processor 130 to generate an assessment scale for the child's developmental age by means of a plurality of questions from each question bank stored in the storage unit 120. In some embodiments, the storage unit 120 is configured to store a database composed of multiple questionnaires. Examples of the storage unit 120 applicable to the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, hard disks, solid-state drives, external hard disks, online storage, blockchain storage, etc. The processor 130 is programmed with instructions to execute for evaluating the developmental age of a child, which will be described in detail in the subsequent paragraphs. Preferably, the user interface 110, the storage unit 120, and the processor 130 are integrated into one hardware. Alternatively, the foregoing components may be independent devices located at different positions, communicating with each other through a network connection, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), the Internet, or a wireless network. According to some embodiments, the user interface 110 may be in the form of an online web page or a mobile application, allowing external users (such as clinicians, parents, educators, and therapists) to interact with the present invention system 10 and / or method 20. Referring to FIG. 2, which illustrates a flowchart of a method 20 executed by the present invention system 10, the method 20 is used to generate an assessment scale for a child's developmental age by means of an assessment of six developmental aspects. The method 20 includes the following steps (referring to the component symbols S201 to S206 shown in FIG. 2), S201: Select a first set of questions corresponding to the same age interval from any question bank stored in the storage unit 120 to generate a first question list corresponding to the first age interval; S202: Calculate a first score of the first question list based on an external input answer to the first question list in step S201; S203: Based on the first score calculated in step S202, select a second set of questions from the question bank selected in step S201 to generate a second question list, wherein the second set of questions is different from the first set of questions, and the second question list corresponds to a second age interval that is ascending or descending from the foregoing first age interval; S204: Calculate a second score of the second question list based on an external input answer to the second question list in step S203; S205: Determine the developmental age of the child in the corresponding developmental aspect based on the second score calculated in step S204; and S206: Repeat steps S201 to S205 until the developmental ages of all six developmental aspects are collected, thereby generating an assessment scale for the child's developmental age. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the six developmental aspects are respectively gross motor, fine motor, language comprehension, language expression, cognitive development, and social emotion. Based on professional knowledge and clinical experience in the relevant field, a plurality of questions individually corresponding to each developmental aspect are pre-created, and these questions are stored as separate question banks in the storage unit 120 of the present invention system 10. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, each topic stored in the storage unit 120 independently corresponds to an age range from 0 months to 72 months, such as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 or 72 months old. The age ranges of the present disclosure are intervals of several months between 0 months and 72 months, such as intervals of one month, two months, three months, four months, five months, six months, eight months, ten months or twelve months. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the age range is two months within 0 months to 72 months; preferably, each age range differs from the next age range by two months. In a specific embodiment, the age ranges are from 0 to 2 months old, from 2 to 4 months old, from 4 to 6 months old, from 6 to 8 months old, from 8 to 10 months old, from 10 to 12 months old, from 12 to 14 months old, from 14 to 16 months old, from 16 to 18 months old, from 18 to 20 months old, from 20 to 22 months old, from 22 to 24 months old, from 24 to 26 months old, from 26 to 28 months old, from 28 to 30 months old, from 30 to 32 months old, from 32 to 34 months old, from 34 to 36 months old, from 36 to 38 months old, from 38 to 40 months old, from 40 to 42 months old, from 42 to 44 months old, from 44 to 46 months old, from 46 to 48 months old, from 48 to 50 months old, from 50 to 52 months old, from 52 to 54 months old, from 54 to 56 months old, from 56 to 58 months old, from 58 to 60 months old, from 60 to 62 months old, from 62 to 64 months old, from 64 to 66 months old, from 66 to 68 months old, from 68 to 70 months old, and from 70 to 72 months old. Thus, in step S201, the first set of topics is selected from any question bank corresponding to any development aspect, and all the selected topics correspond to the same age range between 0 and 72 months as described above, thereby generating a first question list corresponding to the first age range. The first age range can be determined according to actual needs; in a specific embodiment, the first age range covers the chronological age of the subject child. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a first question list is presented through the user interface 110 of the system 10, and external responses to these questions (i.e., answers input by the user to these questions) are collected through the user interface 10. Then, the method 20 executed by the processor 130 will perform calculation steps, in which a first score of the first question list is calculated based on the collected answers. According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, in step S202, the standard scores of each group of questions can be predetermined based on the general knowledge and standards in the art. Thus, the first score calculated in step S202, with or without weighting, is compared with the standard score, and based on this comparison result, a second question list is generated (step S203). In one embodiment, a second group of questions is selected from the same question bank as in step S201 to create the second question list. Note that the second group of questions is different from the first group of questions, and the second age range corresponding to the second question list is also different from the first age range (step S203). According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second age range is incremented or decremented from the first age range. In a specific example, when the first score calculated in step S202 is less than the standard score, the second question list is generated and given to the user through the same user interface 110, and the second age range of the second question list is decremented from the前述 first age range (step S203). Optionally, when the first score calculated in step S202 is equal to and / or greater than the standard score, a second question list with its second age range incremented from the前述 first age range is generated (step S203) and presented to the user through the user interface 110. Similar to step S202, in step S204, the second question list is also presented through the user interface 110. Responses from external inputs of the user are collected through the same user interface 110 and transmitted to the processor 130, so that the processor 130 can calculate the second score. After calculating the second score, the developmental age of the child in the corresponding developmental aspect is determined (S205). In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first group of questions and the second group of questions selected to generate the first question list and the second question list may include the same or different numbers of questions (the number of questions). Preferably, the number of questions in each group does not exceed four questions; more preferably, it does not exceed three questions. In a specific example, the first group of questions and the second group of questions each include four questions. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method and / or system of the present invention can determine the developmental age of each child being evaluated by executing one of the following two options and based on the comparison result between the calculated score and the standard score. (I) The first score is less than the standard score When the first score calculated in step S202 is less than the standard score, a second question set is provided, and the second age range of the second question set is decreasing from the first age range. At this time, the second score of the second question set is verified, and a new set of questions different from the previously answered questions is selected from the same question bank to generate a new question set. Specifically, if the second score is still less than the standard score, the method of the present invention will continue to select a new set of questions (e.g., the third set of questions) from the same question bank as described in step S203 to generate another new question set (e.g., the third question set). According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the criterion for selecting the third set of questions is the same as the criterion described in step S201 or S203, wherein the age range of the third question set is more decreasing than the age range of the second question set. If the third score is less than the standard score, the method of the present invention will continue to generate another new question set until the calculated score of any given question set is greater than the standard score for the first time. In other words, after repeating the step of selecting question sets with decreasing age ranges multiple times, once the score of the selected question set is greater than the standard score, the question selection process is stopped. At this time, the age range corresponding to the selected question set is determined as the developmental age of the child being tested. Under this procedure, if the developmental age of the child is younger than his / her chronological age, the child is identified as developmentally delayed (DD) in the respective developmental aspect. (II) The first score is greater than or equal to the standard score Alternatively, when the first score calculated in step S202 is greater than the standard score, the method of the present invention will continue to generate a second question set, and the second age range of the second question set is increasing from the first age range (i.e., the second age range is older than the first age range) (step S203). After receiving the external input answers for the second question set and calculating the second score, the developmental age of the child is determined based on the comparison result between the second score and the standard score. In a specific embodiment, if the second score in step S204 is less than the standard score, it is determined that the developmental age of the child corresponds to the chronological age of the child. In another alternative embodiment, if the second score calculated in step S204 is greater than the standard score, it can be determined that the developmental age of the child is older than the chronological age of the child. Under this process, the developmental age of the child in a developmental aspect can be obtained. The strategies outlined in option (I) or (II) are independently executed by sequentially answering questions selected from six developmental aspects of the child being tested. By repeating steps S201 to S205, the developmental ages of each developmental aspect are aggregated to generate a rating scale of the developmental age of the child (step S206). Additionally or optionally, the method of the present invention may further include performing an automatic evaluation of the reliability and validity of steps S201 to S205, so as to verify the credibility of these selected questions. The reliability and validity evaluations can be automatically performed according to actual needs through tools and algorithms well-known in the art. In some specific embodiments, the automatic evaluation is performed by executing machine learning algorithms. Examples of machine learning algorithms applicable to the systems and methods of the present invention include, but are not limited to, neural network, deep learning, decision tree, random forest, logistic regression, support vector machine, principal component analysis, k-means clustering, and combinations thereof. In a specific embodiment, the automatic evaluation is performed through a support vector machine. 2.2 Method for Measuring and Treating Developmental Delay The present disclosure also aims to provide treatment for children determined to have a developmental delay (DD). To this end, the foregoing methods and systems can be used to assist clinical personnel in making an accurate judgment of the developmental age of children, so that children diagnosed with a developmental delay can receive timely treatment (such as through the administration of treatment). The present disclosure includes methods for measuring and treating children under 72 months of age (or six years old) with a developmental delay. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method includes: (a) providing six question banks respectively corresponding to six development aspects, wherein each question bank includes a plurality of questions, and each of the plurality of questions independently corresponds to an age range of 0 to 72 months; (b) selecting a first set of questions corresponding to the same age range from any of the question banks in step (a) to generate a first question list corresponding to the first age range; (c) calculating a first score of the first question list based on the responses received for the first question list in step (b); (d) based on the first score calculated in step (c), generating a second question list by selecting a second set of questions from the question bank selected in step (b), wherein the second set of questions is different from the first set of questions, and the second age range of the second question list increases (ascending) or decreases (descending) from the previous first age range; (e) calculating a second score of the second question list based on the responses received for the second question list in step (d); (f) determining the developmental age of the child in the corresponding development aspect based on the second score calculated in step (e); (g) repeating steps (b) to (f) until the developmental ages of each development aspect are collected, thereby determining the degree of developmental delay of the child; and (h) providing an early intervention based on the results of step (g) to treat the child's developmental delay. The method of the present invention first provides six question banks respectively corresponding to six development aspects. Each question bank includes a plurality of questions, which are designed or created to verify the development of children. According to a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, the six question banks are stored in the storage unit 120 of the system 10 of the present invention. Then, a first set of questions corresponding to the same age range is selected from one of the six question banks to generate a first question list corresponding to the first age range (step (a)). It should be noted that in a preferred embodiment, the first age range covers the chronological age of the child. Based on the first score calculated from the responses input by the test child for the first question list, a second question list corresponding to another more appropriate age range is generated. Then, based on the second score calculated from the responses of the second question list, the developmental age of the child is finally determined through the process described in section 2.1 of this article. According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is expected that by repeating the aforementioned steps (b) to (f), the question lists from the six question banks (note that each question bank corresponds to any one of the six development aspects) will be tested, thereby comprehensively determining the degree of developmental delay of the test child. Specifically, the proportion of developmental delay within the six development aspects can be one-sixth, two-sixths, three-sixths, four-sixths, five-sixths, or all aspects are developmentally delayed. Once a child is evaluated as having developmental delays in any aspect of development, appropriate interventions should be initiated, and the degree of the child's developmental delays measured and determined by the method of the present invention can be used as a reference for determining which early education and treatment are applicable to the child. Examples of early education and treatment applicable to the method of the present invention (i.e., provided to children with developmental delays) include speech therapy, occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), behavioral therapy, early childhood special education (ECSE), sensory integration therapy, psychotherapy, alternative and augmentative communication (AAC), and combinations thereof. Any clinical practitioner can select the treatment means applicable to the method of the present disclosure based on the specific condition being treated, the severity of the condition, the physical condition of the individual patient (including age, physical condition, and gender), the duration of the treatment, the types of diseases being treated in combination (if any), the specific environment, and other similar factors, in conjunction with the general knowledge and professional knowledge of health practitioners. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, in step (h), if a child exhibits developmental delays in any one aspect of development, early education and treatment need to be carried out through any combination of the aforementioned treatments. For example, if a two-year-old child is diagnosed with developmental delays in both the gross motor and speech expression aspects among the six aspects of development, then physical therapy and speech therapy are combined for the child. With the aforementioned technical features, the method of the present disclosure can provide accurate assessment and treatment for children's developmental delays, thereby improving the accuracy and efficiency of early treatment and early education for children with developmental delays. Examples Example 1 Verification of the Method of the Present Invention for Generating a Developmental Assessment Scale The purpose of this experiment is to verify the efficacy and accuracy of the system and method of the present invention in performing developmental assessments. Accordingly, statistical analysis is used to analyze the assessment results across six aspects of development and the entire system. The results are summarized in Tables 1 and 2 respectively. Table 1 Results of the Efficacy of the Verified System of the Present Invention in Developmental Assessments across Six Aspects of Development Table 2 Results of the Overall Efficacy of the Verified System of the Present Invention The results described in Table 1 and Table 2 confirm that the system of the present invention exhibits high accuracy in assessing the stages of children's development, whether in a single aspect of development or within the entire system. By using the present invention and system, the developmental age of children can be automatically detected and identified, thereby enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of diagnosing developmental delays and early intervention. It should be understood that the foregoing description of the embodiments is given by way of example only, and those of ordinary skill in the art can make various modifications. The above specification, examples, and experimental results provide a complete description of the structure and use of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Although various specific embodiments of the present invention are disclosed in the above embodiments, they are not intended to limit the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can make various changes and modifications without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be defined by the scope of the appended patent application. 10: System 110: User Interface 120: Storage Unit 130: Processor 20: Method S201 - S206: Steps To make the above and other objects, features, advantages, and embodiments of the present invention more clearly understood, the following is a description of the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method 20 implemented by the aforementioned system 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. According to the usual operating mode, various elements and features in the figures are not drawn to scale, and they are drawn in a way to best present the specific features and elements related to the present invention. In addition, the same or similar element symbols are used to refer to similar elements / components in different figures. 20: Method S201 - S206: Steps

Claims

1. A system for generating a child developmental age scale by assessing six developmental dimensions, comprising a user interface configured to accept an external input response; a storage unit configured to store six item banks corresponding to the six developmental dimensions, wherein each item bank contains a plurality of items, and each plurality of items corresponds to an age range of 0 to 72 months, wherein each age range is two months apart from the next age range, and the six developmental dimensions are gross motor skills, fine motor skills, language comprehension, language expression, cognitive development, and socio-emotional development; and a processor communicatively connected to the user interface and the storage unit, configured to execute instructions programmed in the processor by performing the following actions: (a) selecting a first set of items corresponding to the same age range from any of the item banks stored in the storage unit to generate a first item table corresponding to a first age range; (b) calculating a first score for the first item table based on the external input response to the first item table in step (a); (c) Based on the first score calculated in step (b), a second set of questions is selected from the question bank selected in step (a) to generate a second question table, wherein the second set of questions is different from the first set of questions, and the second question table corresponds to a second age range that increases or decreases from the first age range, wherein the first set of questions and the second set of questions each contain no more than four questions; (d) a second score of the second question table is calculated based on the external input response of the second question table in step (c); (e) a developmental age of the child in the corresponding developmental aspect is determined based on the second score calculated in step (d); and (f) steps (a) to (e) are repeated until the developmental ages of the six developmental aspects are collected, thereby generating the assessment scale of the child's developmental age.

2. The system as described in claim 1, wherein in step (c), when the first score calculated in step (b) is less than a standard score, the second age range corresponding to the second question table decreases from the first age range; or when the first score calculated in step (b) is greater than the standard score, the second age range corresponding to the second question table increases from the first age range.

3. The system as described in claim 2, after step (d), further comprises: (di) when the first score in step (b) is less than the standard score, generating at least one new question table by selecting a new set of questions different from the first set and the second set, until the calculated score of the new question table is greater than the standard score for the first time, wherein, The new age range corresponding to the new question table decreases from the previous age range.

4. The system as described in claim 3, wherein in step (e), the developmental age of the child corresponding to the developmental aspect is determined based on the new age range corresponding to the new topic table.

5. The system as described in claim 4, wherein in step (e), if the child’s developmental age is less than the child’s chronological age, the child is determined to be developmentally delayed in the corresponding developmental aspect.

6. The system as described in claim 2, wherein in step (e), if the first score calculated in step (b) is greater than the standard score, the child's developmental age is determined based on the second score of the second item table in step (d), and the developmental age is equivalent to the second age range corresponding to the second item table in step (c).

7. The system as described in claim 6, wherein in step (e), if the second score calculated in step (d) is less than the standard score, the child's developmental age is determined to be consistent with the child's chronological age.

8. The system as described in claim 6, wherein in step (e), if the second score calculated in step (d) is greater than the standard score, the child's developmental age is determined to be greater than the child's chronological age.

9. The system as described in claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to further perform the following action: perform an automatic detection to assess the reliability and validity of steps (a) through (e).

10. The system as described in claim 9, wherein the automatic detection is performed by executing a machine learning algorithm.

11. The system as described in claim 1, wherein in step (a), the first age range covers the child’s actual age.

Images