CNS 510

Early Childhood Development & Mental Health

This course is designed to enhance the helping professional's knowledge of child development and factors affecting child development and mental health with a focus on knowledge of young children's social and emotional development and their relationship to mental health. This includes knowledge of major theories of child development; an understanding about brain development and sensory processing and their role in children's cognitive, social, and emotional development; knowledge of major developmental milestones; an understanding of bonding and attachment on the development of nurturing relationships; and an understanding of environmental and cultural factors that mediate children's developmental experiences including what we are learning from the newer field of epigenetics. The knowledge of typical and atypical child development (and their relation to mental health) gained through this course will allow students to plan outcomes using developmentally appropriate strategies, interventions, or environmental adaptations or modifications and accommodations.

Units: 3.0