1- Community (Development) Flashcards
who assesses a childs development
health visitor
If the health visitor has any concerns, they will highlight these to the GP for further assessment. Some children will need additional monitoring (e.g. if they were pre-term and/or have known medical problems).
when are children seen by healthcare proffessional to monitor development
- Children will normally be seen by their GP/midwife as a newborn and
- by their health visitor at 6 – 8 weeks, 9 – 12 months and 2 – 2.5 years.
Developmental milestones are often divided into 4 categories
- Gross motor
- Vision and fine motor
- Hearing, speech and language
- Social, emotional and behavioural
developmental milestones are considered in regards to
their ‘median age of acquisition’ and ‘limit age’ by which they should have been achieved. If the skill is not attained by this age then more detailed assessment, investigation or intervention may be required.
Developmental milestones are acquired in a
serial manner- one after the other- and their achievement follows similar pattern between children
developmental delay background
Developmental delay is a broad term referring to a delay in any of the four developmental areas.
Global DD
delay in 2 or more of the above areas
risk factors/causes for DD
- Neurological e.g. spina bifida, HIE, intraventricular hameorrhage
- Infection e.g. TORCH, meningitis
- Neuromusuclar disorders e.g. duchenne musuclar dystrophy
- Genetic disorders e.g. down syndrome
- Austism
- Metabolic e.g. Hurle syndrome, Krabbe disease, Phenylketonuria
presentation for DD
- Child does not hit expected milestone
red flags for DD
investigations for DD
First line
- bloods
- hearing tests
Second line
- Karyotyping/DNA analysis
- More detailed metabolic screen
- MRI
- EEG
managment of DD
- Referral to community paediatrician
- MDT approach
o SALT
o OT
o Portage practitioner and orthoptists
o paediatrician - Detailed developmental assessment e.g. Griddiths scales of child development
- Holistic assessment of child and family
DD prognosis
Prognosis
Only a few causes of developmental delay are reversible, most will result in chronic morbidity with the child requiring specialist support for many years.
Global developmental delay
Refers to a child displaying slow development in all developmental domains. This could indicate an underlying diagnosis such as:
- Down’s syndrome
- Fragile X syndrome
- Fetal alcohol syndrome
- Rett syndrome
- Metabolic disorders
gross motor milestones
A delay that is specific to the gross motor domain may indicate underlying:
* Cerebral palsy
* Ataxia
* Myopathy
* Spina bifida
* Visual impairment
social, emotional and behaviour development
A delay that is specific to the personal and social domain may indicate underlying:
* Emotional and social neglect
* Parenting issues
* Autism