Children with special needs

Question 1

What are the major categories of child development?

Answer 1

1 - Gross motor skills

2 - Fine motor skills

3 - Speech and language

4 - Social & personal

5 - Performance and cognition

Question 2

What is the limit age at which a child should have acquired a particular domain of development?

Answer 2

Mean age for acquisition of that milestone plus 2 standard deviations

Question 3

What is the definition of global developmental delay?

Answer 3

2 or more developmental domains are affected

Question 4

How might a child with developmental/special needs present or through which services might they be identified?

Answer 4

1) Routine health surveillance
2) Parental concern
3) Nursery/daycare
4) UK Healthy Child Programme (UK HCP)

Question 5

What are the assessment tools that can be used in primary care to assess for childrens developmental problems?

Answer 5

1 - ASQ (Ages and stages questionnaire)

2 - PEDS (Parents evaluation of developmental status)

3 - M-CHAT (Checklist for autism)

4 - SOGS-2 (Schedule of growing skills)

Question 6

In what ways can developmental abilities be quantified?

Answer 6

1 - Delay

2 - Disorder

3 - Regression

Question 7

What are important aspects of history taking in children with special needs/learning disabilities?

Answer 7

1 - Family history of neurodevelopmental/genetic disorder

2 - Drug and alcohol use during pregnancy

3 - Medications

4 - Growth records

5 - Vision and hearing surveillance

Question 8

What are important aspects of a clinical examination in children with developmental problems/special needs?

Answer 8

1 - Skin abnormalities

2 - Movement quality

3 - Ability to sit and stand from supine

4 - Eye movements

5 - Observation of behaviour

Question 9

What are the common sensory disturbances observed in children with learning difficulties and special needs?

Answer 9

Vision disorders - creates problems with motor skills

Hearing impairements - creates problems with speech

Question 10

What are the red flags of childhood development?

Answer 10

1 - Loss of developmental skills

2 - Problems with vision and hearing

3 - Floppiness

4 - No speech by 18-24 months

5 - Cannot walk by 18 months (boys) or 2 years (girls)

Question 11

What investigations might you carry out on a child you suspect of having a learning disability?

Answer 11

1 - Genetic testing

2 - Creatine Kinase

3 - Thyroid function tests

4 - Opthalmological examination

5 - Audiology assessment