Doctors Encouraged to Routinely Screen for Motor Delays in Young Children

Most parents and professionals acknowledge that early diagnosis and intervention of most special needs leads to better long term outcomes for children. Now the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a 12 step algorithm encouraging pediatricians to incorporate screening for developmental and motor delays into basic child health checks  performed  at 9, 18 and 30 months.Doctors are also encouraged to check children's fine motor skills at 4 years.

Significantly, the report also stresses the importance of doctor's getting input from parents and listening to concerns that parents express.  If problems with a child are suspected, doctors are advised to recommend further evaluation at the same time as they refer the child for early intervention services.

“We hope this approach will shorten the ‘diagnostic odyssey’ encountered by many children with motor delays, and more quickly get these children to appropriate specialists for treatment,” said pediatrician Garey Nortiz, MD, FAAP, co-author of the clinical report.

The report appears in Pediatrics online. Hopefully, physicians in other countries will incorporate this screening if they are not already doing so.

For more information and the source of the above quote, please see:

http://tinyurl.com/q58xbug

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/GeneralNeurology/39435

©Mary M Conneely T/A Advocacy in Action