You will work with many different people, so it’s important to always consider a person’s stage of life and developmental stage when providing options to meet their needs.

Milestones are used to measure when we reach particular ages and stages in life. These vary a lot amongst any population but awareness of a person’s life stage can provide some insights into their support needs. 

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As humans progress from infancy through childhood and adolescence into adulthood and finally older age, our knowledge, understanding and needs change. This information helps ensure that the support provided is appropriate to the person’s needs to support healthy, ongoing development and wellbeing. 

For example, we know that an infant requires more sleep than an adult, and that hormonal changes in adolescence can affect mood, behaviour and wellbeing. 

There are various theories on the stages of development. Psychologist Erik Erikson (1902–1994) identified eight stages of development. This theory is useful to give you a basis for understanding the life stages from infancy to late adulthood.

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Read Erikson's stages of development by Kendra Cherry to understand more about the eight psychosocial stages. 

Human development

Human development follows a pathway marked by key milestones from birth to death. 

In addition to the theories that divide human development by specific ages, there are other theories that focus on a person’s physical, cognitive and socio-emotional developmental stages. An understanding of physical, cognitive and psychosocial development patterns will help you understand the needs and abilities of the people you support.

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Remember that people move through these stages and developmental pathways at different rates. Don’t assume that just because a person’s age corresponds with a certain stage, that they would always display the features you would expect of that stage. Factors such as disability, environmental influence, genetic inheritance, accidents and injuries, and variations in maturity rates all make a difference in development.