Detailed Starting-Volume Questionnaire — 80 parent-observable questions
My child can remain calm, alert and available long enough to participate in a short shared activity without frequently becoming overwhelmed, shutting down or leaving.
When dysregulated, my child can accept familiar support or use an established strategy to begin returning to a state in which interaction is possible.
My child notices and responds meaningfully to sound, touch, movement, light, smell, taste, temperature or body pressure.
My child can communicate needs such as stop, more, break, too loud, don't touch, move or finished through any reliable communication mode.
My child recognises important body parts on themselves and responds when a body part is named, touched or involved in a familiar action.
My child shows awareness of hunger, thirst, tiredness, pain, feeling hot or cold, or needing the toilet.
My child can briefly attend to another person, an object or a shared activity and remain involved for several back-and-forth turns.
My child attempts to copy a simple movement, action with an object, sound, facial expression or familiar play routine.
My child can visually attend to and match identical objects, pictures, shapes, colours or other simple visual information.
My child responds consistently to their name, familiar gestures, common words, visual cues or simple communication from another person.
My child independently directs a request towards another person for a desired object, activity, food, action or person instead of only crying, reaching or waiting.
My child clearly communicates no, stop, don't want, not this or finished in an appropriate and understandable way.
My child communicates when help is needed instead of immediately becoming upset, abandoning the activity or waiting for someone to notice.
My child can examine two or more options, make a choice and communicate that choice clearly.
My child follows another person's point or gaze and can direct another person's attention towards something meaningful or interesting.
My child understands and uses names of familiar people, objects, foods, animals, places or belongings meaningfully, not only while naming cards.
My child understands and uses everyday action words during real activities, such as eat, drink, open, go, sit, wash, play or sleep.
My child follows familiar one-step and simple two-step instructions without repeated physical demonstration or excessive prompting.
My child responds to greetings and answers simple What and Who questions about familiar people, objects and activities.
My child communicates to show, share, greet, comment or begin an interaction, not only to obtain something.
My child groups objects or pictures meaningfully according to categories such as food, animals, clothes, vehicles, toys or household items.
My child understands and explains what familiar objects are used for rather than only naming the objects.
My child connects related objects, people, actions or places, such as toothbrush-toothpaste, cup-water or doctor-hospital.
My child describes an object, person or experience using meaningful features such as colour, size, shape, texture, condition or appearance.
My child understands and uses contrasts such as big-small, hot-cold, empty-full, wet-dry, same-different or fast-slow.
My child understands common pronouns and connects the correct person or subject with an appropriate action.
My child identifies how two items are alike and how they are different, using more than one feature when appropriate.
My child identifies parts of familiar objects and explains why one item does not belong in a group.
My child answers varied What, Who and Where questions beyond familiar, repeated or memorised examples.
My child notices meaningful visual differences, selects from similar alternatives and adjusts when examples or presentation change.
My child understands the steps in familiar routines such as dressing, bathing, brushing teeth, preparing food or getting ready for school.
My child can arrange pictures or verbally describe the steps of a familiar activity in the correct functional order.
My child understands and uses before and after when discussing routines, instructions or events.
My child understands morning, afternoon, evening, yesterday, today, tomorrow, first, next, last and when.
My child follows instructions containing multiple steps, descriptive information, locations, sequence words or conditions.
My child understands expected communication and behaviour during mealtimes, visitors, shopping, waiting, travelling or other routines.
My child understands more, less, enough, all, none, one more, many, few and basic counting during everyday activities.
My child understands the roles of common community helpers, the tools they use and when a particular helper may be needed.
My child answers practical Where questions and explains where objects, people, activities or community events are located.
My child can ask for assistance, respond to basic safety instructions and communicate appropriately in home, school and community situations.
My child can arrange or describe an event in a meaningful beginning-middle-end sequence.
My child can explain what happened at school, during an outing or in an unexpected incident without another person supplying most information.
My child includes important information such as who was involved, where it happened, what occurred and what happened next.
After hearing or seeing a short event or story, my child can retell the important information in a logical and understandable order.
My child understands and explains why something happened and what occurred as a result.
My child identifies a range of emotions and explains possible reasons why another person may feel that way.
My child communicates their own emotional state and explains what caused or contributed to it.
My child answers unfamiliar Why and How questions using relevant reasoning rather than a memorised response.
My child predicts what may happen next and suggests a reasonable solution to an everyday problem.
My child uses organised sentences, vocabulary and connecting words so someone who was not present can understand the explanation.
My child can appropriately gain someone's attention, introduce a relevant topic and begin a conversation.
My child listens, responds meaningfully and contributes enough relevant information to continue the interaction.
My child maintains a shared topic without repeatedly shifting only to personal interests or giving unrelated responses.
My child takes turns speaking and listening rather than dominating, remaining passive or asking repetitive questions.
My child recognises when an interaction is ending and closes it appropriately instead of walking away abruptly or continuing indefinitely.
When misunderstood, my child repeats, rephrases, clarifies or adds information instead of only repeating the same words or becoming upset.
My child can approach peers, join play or a group activity, take turns, cooperate and respond to others' ideas.
My child responds appropriately to waiting, losing, disagreement, exclusion, teasing or an unexpected change in a shared activity.
My child uses polite requests, asks permission, accepts reasonable changes and adjusts communication for the listener or situation.
My child understands synonyms, similarities, simple similes and increasingly complex verbal relationships.
My child uses clues from a situation, picture, story or conversation to understand information that has not been directly stated.
My child infers what another person may be planning, wanting, expecting or attempting to communicate.
My child understands commonly used idioms and recognises that intended meaning may differ from the literal words.
My child understands that the same word may have different meanings depending on the sentence or situation.
My child recognises when a statement, picture or situation does not make sense and explains what is incorrect.
My child uses past, present and future tense clearly when discussing previous experiences, current events and future plans.
My child completes and explains verbal analogies by identifying the underlying relationship between concepts.
My child understands less visible concepts such as fairness, responsibility, trust, intention, possibility or consequence.
My child considers more than one possible explanation, meaning or solution instead of insisting that only one interpretation is possible.
My child discusses what-if situations, possible future outcomes and ideas that are not immediately visible, and explains their reasoning.
My child understands that another person may not know something the child knows and adjusts the information they provide.
My child recognises that another person may think, believe or interpret something differently.
My child considers another person's viewpoint, intention and available information before interpreting or responding.
My child recognises how another person may feel and chooses an appropriate supportive or respectful response.
My child explains a disagreement, listens to another viewpoint, identifies concerns and suggests a fair solution.
My child recognises sarcasm, irony, indirect requests and situations where intended meaning differs from literal words.
My child communicates discomfort, refuses unwanted contact, respects another person's boundary and seeks help when necessary.
My child clearly reports an unsafe, confusing or inappropriate situation, including who was involved, where it happened and what occurred.
My child compares options, considers consequences and explains why one decision may be safer, fairer or more appropriate.
My child expresses an opinion, justifies a choice, negotiates appropriately, requests accommodations and advocates for personal needs.
| Vol | Developmental Area | Score | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Sensory Foundation | 0 / 20 | Pending |
| II | Birth of Intentionality | 0 / 20 | Pending |
| III | Symbolic Connection | 0 / 20 | Pending |
| IV | Community Competence | 0 / 20 | Pending |
| V | Social Reasoning and Narrative Flow | 0 / 20 | Pending |
| VI | Social Reciprocity and Peer Play | 0 / 20 | Pending |
| VII | Expanding Functional Language | 0 / 20 | Pending |
| VIII | Social Perspectives and Conflict | 0 / 20 | Pending |
Parent-guidance screening tool | Not a diagnostic assessment · Functional Communication Protocol™ · NeuroSavvi Educational Services