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Developmental Disabilities
1 out of 6 children are diagnosed with a developmental
disorder and/or behavioral problem.
By incorporating developmental surveillance and screening
into preventive health care visits, the pediatrician has
the ideal opportunity to offer anticipatory guidance to
the family about supporting their child's development and
to facilitate early detection of a disorder.1
Understanding the importance of medical home in identifying
developmental/behavioral issues ensures early treatment,
access to early intervention programs, better school placement,
and ultimately better developmental outcomes.2
One of the primary goals of routine preventive health care
is to ensure that a child is developing normally. The American
Academy of Pediatrics recommends developmental surveillance
at every well-child visit and developmental screening using
formal, validated tools at 9, 18, and 30 months or
whenever a parent or provider concern is expressed. Surveillance
and screening activities should be performed within the
medical home and coordinated with tracking and intervention
services available in the community.1
"My greatest frustration is why wait all these
years to test my child when I've been saying the whole time
there is something wrong." Lina Salazar, Parent
Parents play an important role in the detection of their
children's developmental and behavioral disabilities.5
Therefore as a parent, it is important to convey concerns
about your child's development to the pediatric health care
clinician during well-child visits to help foster the early
detection of such disabilities through the family-professional
partnership. Information contained on this page aims to
provide families with access to general developmental information,
strategies to best communicate with clinicians, and encouragement
to advocate on the part of your child.
News
CDC Child Development Campaign
Expands to Target More Than 400,000 Child Care Facilities
Nationwide
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in
collaboration with a coalition
of national partners, is launching a new phase of the “Learn
the Signs. Act Early” public
awareness campaign. This childhood development campaign
is designed to help
increase awareness about the importance of tracking a child’s
social and emotional
development, including the potential early warning signs
of autism and other
developmental disabilities.
The new phase targets more than 407,000 child care facilities
in the United States and
will provide free materials to help child care providers
and preschool teachers educate
parents about child development and autism.
“More than 8.7 million children younger than five
years of age in the United States are in
some type of child care arrangement,” said Alison
Johnson, acting director of CDC’s
National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.
“Child care providers
and preschool teachers are in a special position to watch
for delays and to promote early
identification and action when a delay is suspected. In
fact, because they see children
interact in peer groups, child care providers can be the
first to observe early warning
signs of a developmental delay such as autism.”
The “Learn the Signs. Act Early” campaign has
developed a free resource kit of
materials on child development and autism for day care providers
and teachers to share
with parents of children in their care. The kit, available
in both English and Spanish,
includes a CD-ROM containing fact sheets on age-specific
developmental milestones
and on developmental disabilities such as autism, a growth
chart that allows parents to
track specific developmental milestones along with the height
and weight of the child,
and educational posters.
In a 2006 national survey of more than 6,000 parents, 49
percent mentioned learning
and development as their major concerns when asked about
their child's daycare or
preschool. In light of these concerns, it is imperative
that parents know what the
developmental milestones are and when they should be occurring.
No parent wants to
find that his or her child has a delay. However, if parents
can identify any delay early,
they can seek appropriate help right away, which is always
in their child’s best interest.
The CDC campaign also encourages parents to ask their child’s
doctor or health care
professional about any developmental concerns they might
have. Parents can also call
1-800-CDC-INFO or visit www.cdc.gov/actearly
for additional information. More
information about the “Learn the Signs. Act Early”
campaign and developmental
milestones is available on the site, in addition to ordering
information on the FREE Child
Care Provider Resource Kit.
“Learn the Signs. Act Early” is a collaborative
effort of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), the
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Autism Speaks/the
National Alliance for Autism
Research (NAAR), the Autism Society of America (ASA), Cure
Autism Now (CAN), First
Signs, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Council (IACC),
and the Organization for
Autism Research (OAR).
Web sites/Organizations
American Association On Mental Retardation (AAMR): www.aamr.org/
Site contains information regarding projects and conventions
as well as abstracts from periodicals sponsored by the AAMR.
Administration on Developmental Disabilities: www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/add/
The major goal of the programs is a partnership with state
governments, local communities, and the private sector to
assist people with developmental disabilities to reach maximum
potential through increased independence, productivity,
and community integration. They address all elements of
the life cycle: prevention; diagnosis; early intervention;
therapy; education; training; employment; and community
living and leisure opportunities.
AUCD: www.aucd.org/
Association of University Centers on Disabilities
Avenues to Independence: www.avenuestoindependence.org/
Avenues to Independence is a non-profit, charitable organization,
providing residential, vocational and daily living support
in a wide variety of programs for persons with developmental
disabilities.
CDC’s Child Development Web site:
www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/child/
Learn about the Child Development Studies Team’s major
projects and activities, public health issues in child development,
child development milestones, and down-load Positive Parenting
Tips sheets free of charge. You will also find links to
more information, resources, and their partners in promoting
child development.
The Consortium of Developmental Disabilities Council:
cddc.uchicago.edu
CDDC is a member-driven organization that is committed to
representing the diverse interests of Developmental Disabilities
Councils and the people with disabilities that Councils
were created to serve.
Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Online Community
www.dbpeds.org
The Pediatric Development and Behavior Homepage
is an independent web site created to promote better care
and outcomes for children and families affected by developmental,
learning, and behavioral problems by providing access to
clinically relevant information and educational material
for physicians, fellows, resident physicians, and students.
The site may also be of interest to psychologists, nurses,
nurse practitioners, social workers, therapists, educators,
and parents.
First Words Project: firstwords.fsu.edu
First Words Project is a model early identification and
intervention program based in the Department of Communication
Disorders at Florida State University. Staffed by speech-language
pathologists and interdisciplinary consultants, they are
funded to evaluate the communication development of children
from 6 to 24 months of age in Leon County. For children
who are delayed in communication development, they offer
families a menu of service options. Services are offered
at no cost to families or service providers, based on availability
of grant funds. In addition to services provided in Leon
County, they are developing educational materials for training
of healthcare and childcare providers to build their capacities
for earlier detection of communication problems in young
children.
National Association of Developmental Disabilities:
www.naddc.org/
The National Association of Developmental Disabilities Councils
promotes national policy, which enables individuals with
developmental disabilities the opportunity to make choices
regarding the quality of their lives and be included in
the community.
National Association on Mental Retardation: www.thearc.org/
The Arc of the United States is the nation's leading national
organization on mental retardation. The Arc represents over
seven million children and adults with mental retardation
and their families. The Arc has over 140,000 members within
approximately 1,000 state and local chapters nationwide.
Park Lawn: www.parklawn.com/
Park Lawn's mission is to provide comprehensive services
for people with developmental disabilities and their families.
Partners in Policymaking: www.partnersinpolicymaking.com/
Partners is an innovative, competency based leadership training
program for adults with developmental disabilities and parents
of young children with disabilities.
1. American Academy of Pediatrics; Council
on Children With Disabilities, Section on Developmental
Behavioral Pediatrics, Bright Futures Steering Committee
and Medical Home Initiatives for Children With Special Needs
Project Advisory Committee. Identifying Infants and Young Children With Developmental Disorders
in the Medical Home: An Algorithm for Developmental Surveillance
and Screening. Pediatrics. 2006;118(1):405-420
2. Harris S, Handleman J. Age and IQ
at intake as predictors of placement for young children
with autism: A four-to six-year follow up. Journal of Autism
and Developmental Disorders. 2000;30:137-142.
3. Olson AC. How to establish
family professional partnerships. Presented at: International
Family Centered Care Conference; September 5, 2003; Boston,
MA
4. American Academy of Pediatrics. The
Medical Home and Early Intervention Brochure. Elk Grove
Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2004
5. Chen IC, Lee HC, Yeh GC, Lai CH,
Chen SC. The relationship between parental concerns and
professional assessment in developmental delay in infants
and children--a hospital-based study. J Chin Med Assoc.
2004 May;67(5):239-44
Last Updated
March 8, 2007
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