Child development Flashcards
Define child development
- Development is the global impression of a child which encompasses growth, increase in understanding, acquisition of new skills and more sophisticated responses and behaviour
- Serves to endow the child with increasingly complex skills in order to function in society
What are the developmental domains?
- Gross motor and posture
- Fine motor and vision
- Language and hearing
- Social, emotional and behavioural
What is abnormal development?
- Refers to slow acquisition of skills and follows 3 main patterns: 1. Slow but steady 2. Plateau 3. Regression - Delay may occur in 1 or more domain(s)
What tools are available for assessing childhood development?
- Developmental screening
- Standardised developmental assessment - Schedule Of Growing Skills (II), Griffiths developmental scale
What are the key developmental milestones at 6 weeks?
- Gross motor: head level w/body in ventral suspension
- Fine motor + vision: fixes and follows
- COMMUNICATION/ HEARING: becomes still in response to sound
- SOCIAL SKILLS (self help): Smiles
What are the key developmental milestones at 3 months?
- Gross motor: holds head at 90 degrees in ventral supension
- Fine motor + vision: holds an object placed in hand
- COMMUNICATION/ HEARING: turns to sound
- SOCIAL SKILLS (self help): hand regard, laughs, squeals
What are the key developmental milestones at 6 months?
- Gross motor: no head lag on pull to sit; sits with support; in prone position lifts up on forearms
- Fine motor + vision: palmar grasp of objects; transfers objects hand to hand
- COMMUNICATION/ HEARING: vocalisations
- SOCIAL SKILLS (self help): may finger feed self
What are the key developmental milestones at 9 months?
- Gross motor: crawls; sits steadily when unsupported + pivots around
- Fine motor + vision: pincer grasp; index finger approach’ bangs 2 cubes together
- COMMUNICATION/ HEARING: 2 syllable babble, non-specific - consonant-vowel, e.g. mama
- SOCIAL SKILLS (self help): waves bye bye; plays pat-a-cake; indicates wants; stranger anxiety emerging
What are the key developmental milestones at 12 months?
- Gross motor: pulls to stand; cruises; may stand alone briefly; may walk alone
- Fine motor + vision: puts block in cup; casts about
- COMMUNICATION/ HEARING: 1-2 words; imitates adults’ sounds
- SOCIAL SKILLS (self help): imitates activities; object permanence (objects exist when cannot be seen) established; stranger anxiety established; points to indicate wants
What are the key developmental milestones at 18 months?
- Gross motor: walks well; runs
- Fine motor + vision: builds tower of 2-4 cubes’ hand preference emerges
- COMMUNICATION/ HEARING: 6-12 words
- SOCIAL SKILLS (self help): uses spoon; symbolic play - “talking” on phone; domestic mimicry - “helps” in household chores
What are the key developmental milestones at 2 years?
- Gross motor: kicks ball; climbs stairs 2 feet per step
- Fine motor + vision: builds tower of 6-7 cubes; does circular scribbles
- COMMUNICATION/ HEARING: joins 2-3 words; knows some body parts; identifies objects in pictures
- SOCIAL SKILLS (self help): can remove some clothes
What are the key developmental milestones at 3 years?
- Gross motor: stands briefly on one foot; climbs stairs 1 foot per step
- Fine motor + vision: builds tower of 9 cubes; copies a circle
- COMMUNICATION/ HEARING: talks in short sentences that a stranger can understand
- SOCIAL SKILLS (self help): eats with fork + spoon; puts on clothes; may be toilet trained
What is a cause of developmental milestone regression?
Autism
What are some patterns of abnormal development?
- Slow but steady
- Plateau
- Regression
Common presenting problems
- Delayed walker
- Clumsy child
- Delayed speech and language
- Odd social interaction- ASD/Aspergers
- Hyperactivity
How are children with abnormal development evaluated?
History
- Antenatal - illnesses/infections; medications; drugs; environmental exposures, pregnancy supplements
- Birth –prematurity, prolonged/complicated labour
- Postnatal - illnesses/infections; trauma
- Consanguinity – increases chances of chromosomal or autosomal recessive conditions
PMHX
- Developmental milestones (history) from parent
- Current skills - Developmental assessment + general and neurological examination
- Investigations
- Parental anxiety
- Family history
Focussed physical examination
- Look of child
- Gorwth
- OFC
- Hearing and Vision
- Skin
- Genitalia
Bloods and imaging
- FBC and ferritin
- TSH
- Chromosomes
- Lead
- US
- CT/MRI