The American Academy of Pediatrics needed an effective tool for developmental evaluation, but the sensitive subject matter required an equally sensitive solution. 

 

The visual aids AAP often relies upon feature real children with real disabilities. But the personal nature of the existing footage is often too emotionally triggering for parents to use when evaluating their child's development. 

 

My role with the project was to animate the motor delays exhibited in AAP file footage. When illustrating each frame, I kept all of the relevant detail while avoiding potentially distracting elements such as overly bright colors or facial expressions whenever possible. This approach helps parents focus on the most important aspect - the child's movement. 

 

During testing, the results were overwhelmingly positive. Parents who had difficulty viewing the previous videos were excited and comforted by this solution. They voluntarily viewed the animations multiple times and and left the testing session feeling empowered rather than discouraged. One user even cried tears of joy because she was relieved to know other parents could watch these instead of the old footage of children struggling.

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See the complete motor delay tool at HealthyChildren.org.