Awareness. It is one thing to read about it and another to understand what it means. The beauty of awareness is that it often inspires change in our actions, thoughts and lives. March just so happens to be Developmental Disabilities Awareness month, and is a fantastic opportunity for the medical community to recognize the importance of educating ourselves and our patients when it comes to developmental disabilities.
Children develop at their own pace, but there are important milestones that should be achieved by a certain point in a child’s development. These skills are not only fundamental to a child’s growth, but if not monitored closely, long term developmental disabilities can worsen such as ADHD, autism, cerebral palsy, learning disorders, or a loss of hearing or vision. Developmental disabilities may be physical or intellectual; Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities or IDDs is the term used to describe instances when an intellectual disability and other disabilities are present.. For further reading, see what the NIH has to say about IDDs.
Ask yourself: “Is my patient developing at a rate they are supposed to?” Observation is key when it comes to treating children. Monitor your patients. If you notice an ongoing pattern, seek appropriate treatment for them.
For further information on Developmental Disabilities and what you can do to protect and prevent your patients’ symptoms from worsening, visit the CDC’s Developmental Disabilities homepage.
Additional reading can be found at:
- Bright futures: guidelines for health supervision of infants, children, and adolescents - This is the American Academy of Pediatrics's guide to track childhood development. Online and print versions available. There's also a pocket guide version in our online collection.
- Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (journal)
- American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities
- Singh. (2016). Handbook of Evidence-Based Practices in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (1st ed. 2016.). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26583-4
- Luiselli. (2016). Behavioral Health Promotion and Intervention in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (1st ed. 2016.). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27297-9
