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| A developmental pediatrician is a pediatrician that has special training in the evaluation and care of infants who are having difficulty doing what other children their age are able to do. They are trained to evaluate the level of functioning for each infant through a series of developmental tests. They will also help to locate resources within each community to provide therapies to help infants and children in meeting milestones. There might be overlap in what they do with neurologists.
Developmental pediatricians work closely with nurse practitioners and/or occupational therapists/physical therapists to decide on the best therapies for each child. Infant development is a term that means, ''the physical, motor, mental, emotional, and social growth of a baby.'' Babies who spend time in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), or who have trouble developing from some other cause, may need assistance with that development. The goal of a developmental pediatrician is to work with the parents and the child's physician to help maximize the child's potential. Research shows that early developmental intervention has a significant influence on the child's potential. If a child requires additional help in any area, the child will be referred to the kind of specialist needed. Specialized testing performed by a developmental pediatrician is used to monitor abilities that will later be related to the child's performance in a variety of areas. This includes assessment of: muscle tone and symmetry of movement to determine any need for adaptive equipment or medical intervention as the child grows; language acquisition to determine if the child's speech is developing appropriately. A speech-language pathologist can use this information to identify needed skills; Gross motor skills such as crawling, sitting and walking; fine motor skills such as grasping with fingers and hands; and appropriate play. This test will also provide information on behavioral development. Following this assessment, recommendations regarding developmental activities and interventions will be provided. The child's family and doctor should find this information helpful in seeking out appropriate intervention services or providing information to existing service providers. The developmental pediatrician, and sometimes the neurologist, is often the first to diagnose a developmental disability like cerebral palsy. While your child will have more than one pediatrician, the developmental pediatrician is for the most part only focused on your child’s development, as opposed to the entire body, as his or her general pediatrician will be. |
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