Identifying children with developmental disorders

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Children with developmental disabilities often experience disorders related to attention, memory, cognition, language, problem solving, or social interactions. These disorders can range from mild to severe or are easily managed with behavioral and educational interventions or may require more support.

1. What is a child development disorder?

Children with developmental disorders are a group of people who need help not only from their parents but also from everyone around them. Before accessing support and treatment for a child with a developmental disorder, the first thing to do is to identify their problem.
Developmental disorders are a group of conditions resulting from disturbances in physical, learning, language, or behaviour. These conditions begin during a child's development, the consequences can affect activities of daily living and even persist throughout a child's life thereafter.
Skills like walking, smiling, and waving goodbye are all called developmental milestones. Over time, all children gradually reach milestones in the way they play, learn, speak, behave and move.
Each child will develop at their own pace, so it is impossible to say exactly when a child will learn a certain skill. However, developmental milestones in children are still recorded to provide an overview of the changes that will occur during development.
Parents are the ones who know their children best. If your child is not hitting milestones compared to other children his or her age, or if you suspect they are having problems with the way they play, learn, speak, act and move, talk to your doctor. doctor and share your concerns.

2. How to monitor and evaluate the child's development?

To identify children with developmental disorders in a timely manner, children need to be closely monitored. Children's growth and development should be monitored through a partnership between parents and healthcare professionals. At each well-child visit, the doctor will look at problems or delays and talk to the parent about any concerns the parent may have.
Any abnormality noticed during the monitoring of the child's development should be followed up by means of developmental screening. Developmental screening is a short test to see if a child is learning essential basic skills or has a developmental delay.
If a child has a developmental delay, they need help as soon as possible. Early identification and intervention can have a significant impact on a child's ability to learn new skills as well as reduce the need for costly interventions later on.

3. Why do children have developmental disorders?

Developmental disorders can begin at any time during development and often persist throughout life. Most developmental disorders begin before a child is born, but some children have developmental disorders that can be present after birth due to trauma, infection, or other factors.
Most developmental disorders are thought to be the result of a complex combination of factors. These factors include genetics; parental health and behavior (such as smoking and drinking) during pregnancy; complications during childbirth ; infections that the mother gets during pregnancy or the baby can get very early in life; exposure to high levels of toxic substances in the environment, such as lead.
For some developmental disorders, such as fetal alcohol syndrome, the cause has been well established to be alcohol consumption during pregnancy. But for most of the remaining developmental disorders, including the case of children with language development disorders, the specific cause is not well understood.
Some risk factors for children with developmental disorders include:
At least 25% of neonatal hearing loss is caused by maternal infection during pregnancy, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection ) ; birth trauma and head trauma. Some of the most common known causes of mental disorders include fetal alcohol syndrome; genetic disorders and chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome; certain infections during pregnancy. A family history of autism increases a child's risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder. Low birth weight, preterm birth, multiple births, and infections during pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of many developmental disorders. Untreated neonatal jaundice can cause a type of brain damage called kernicterus. Children with kernicterus are more likely to have cerebral palsy, hearing and vision problems, and dental problems. Early detection and treatment of neonatal jaundice is one way to prevent kernicterus. Developmental disturbances can occur in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Recent estimates in the United States suggest that approximately 1 in 6 (17%) children aged 3 to 17 years have one or more of the developmental disorders listed below:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Association autism Cerebral palsy Hearing loss Learning disorders Children with language development disorders For more than a decade, the US CDC Autism and Developmental Disorders Monitoring (ADDM) Network has tracked the number of characteristics of children with autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, and intellectual disability in a number of diverse communities across the United States.

4. What should parents do when they have a child with a developmental disorder?

Not only children with developmental disorders, but parents and caregivers all need the same health care programs as other health problems. The purpose of this approach is for them to be healthy, active and part of a community. Correctly understanding the status of children with developmental disorders helps parents have a more positive and objective view. A child with a developmental disorder is not a defect that cannot be corrected or improved.
Children with developmental disorders does not mean they are unhealthy or unable to be healthy. Being healthy means the same to everyone, staying healthy makes it possible for us to lead an active and fulfilling life. Several other health conditions in children, such as bronchial asthma, digestive symptoms, eczema, skin allergies, and migraines have been found to be more common in children with developmental disorders. Therefore, it is especially important for children with developmental disorders to see their doctor regularly. Parents need to help these children by keeping an eye on their physical, mental health and other milestones in their development.
To have more knowledge of child care for each age, parents should regularly visit the website vimec.com and make an appointment with the leading doctors and pediatric specialists of Vinmec International General Hospital when needing advice. about children's health.