Caregiver-identified strengths in children attending their first neurodevelopmental assessment: Findings from the Sydney child development research registry and development of a child strengths checklist
Parents see clear strengths—kindness, memory, music—in children awaiting diagnosis; capture these with the free CANS Checklist and use them as reinforcers.
01Research in Context
What this study did
KA et al. asked 686 caregivers one open question: 'What is your child's greatest strength?' Kids were waiting for their first neurodevelopmental check-up at a Sydney hospital. The team sorted answers into 61 small codes, then grouped them into six big themes.
What they found
Parents named everyday strengths like 'kind to animals,' 'loves music,' or 'remembers every bus route.' The six themes were: social skills, play and language, cognitive spark, self-help, motor skill, and 'other.' From these they built a free one-page CANS Checklist for clinics to use.
How this fits with other research
McQuaid et al. (2024) used the same Sydney registry one year earlier and painted a bleak picture: most kids got less than two hours of help per week while they waited. That paper showed need; this paper shows assets—both views are true.
Fung et al. (2018) and Fung et al. (2018) also used caregiver surveys, but asked about early ASD red flags. Flipping the questions from 'What is wrong?' to 'What is strong?' gives a fuller picture of the same child.
Laugeson et al. (2014) validated the NECC-CSA skill list with parent endorsement. KA et al. repeat that social-validation recipe, but for strengths instead of foundational skills.
Why it matters
Starting the visit with 'Tell me something your child excels at' takes 30 seconds and shifts the tone from deficit to asset. You can print the CANS Checklist, circle the parent's top three strengths, and build those into your intervention plan. Kids work harder when tasks tap what they already love.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
There has been a growing focus on the importance of understanding strengths in children with neurodevelopmental conditions and how such knowledge can support clinical practices. However, limited research has explored systematic reports of strengths from caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental conditions, most commonly autism. In this study, we explored caregiver-identified strengths in children attending their first neurodevelopmental assessment. Caregivers of 686 children attending a tertiary assessment service answered a survey question about their children's strengths. Content analysis identified 61 unique categories of strengths, which were grouped into six themes: cognitive and intellectual, social and interpersonal, hobbies and passions, character and personality, physical, and behavioural. The most frequently reported specific strengths were kind caring, and compassionate, social and friendly, loving and affectionate, music singing and dancing, and good memory recall. The breadth of positive strengths identified here may reflect the larger population sampled or the diversity of presentations in this cohort. We then present a caregiver checklist, the Child Autism and Neurodevelopment Strengths (CANS) Checklist, that was developed with community representatives, to inform assessment and feedback of child strengths. We discuss what is required to use this knowledge to inform strengths-based practices that can support clinical practice and inform on child development and family well-being.Lay AbstractThere has been a growing focus on the importance of understanding strengths in children with neurodevelopmental conditions, but there is little research exploring caregiver-reported strengths at the time of diagnostic assessment. In this study, we explored caregiver-identified strengths in 686 children who were attending a neurodevelopmental assessment. Content analysis identified 61 unique categories of strengths, which we grouped into six main themes. These six themes were cognitive and intellectual, social and interpersonal, hobbies and passions, character and personality, physical, and behavioural. The most common strengths identified by caregivers were 'kind, caring, and compassionate', 'social and friendly', 'loving and affectionate', 'music, singing, and dancing', and 'good memory recall'. Based on these strengths, we present a checklist that was developed with community representatives, to make sure a strengths-based framework can be used during the diagnostic process. We discuss how we can use this knowledge to develop strengths-based practices that can support clinical practice and inform on child development and family well-being.
, 2025 · doi:10.1177/13623613251325287