Developmental Delays and Learning Difficulties
Pre-school Aged Children
For children under the age of 5, the NSW Blue Book references the milestones set out in CDC’s “Learn the Signs, Act Early”.
A common concern for parents is speech and language delay. These children are usually referred to a speech therapist for assessment and therapy.
Some children can be behind in more than one aspect of their developmental areas such as:
- Social and emotional
- Language and Communication
- Cognitive
- Movement and Physical
Children with delays in multiple areas may require extra support in terms of early intervention therapy to help them improve. This may be in the form of:
- Regular Developmental Paediatrician review
- Speech therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Behavioural therapy
- Quality early education environment.
As support may be required from multiple professionals, it is important that care is coordinated and there is a collaboration between all those involved.
If you are concerned that your child is behind in their development, please contact us. Our specialist clinicians can help assess your child’s development and guide you in what your child requires.
School-aged children
Developmental delays & learning difficulty concerns for school-aged children can present in many different ways. Teachers may raise their concerns to parents about their children falling behind in their school work or general behaviour in class. Parents may have concerns about their child’s mood swings, low self-esteem or inability to regulate their emotions.
Whilst these concerns may be part of growing up for some children, for others they may be symptoms of underlying developmental disorders such as:
- ADHD
- Specific learning disabilities in e.g. reading, spelling or writing
- Intellectual disability
- Developmental coordination disorder
- Visual or hearing impairments or an underlying general learning disability.
Therefore, it is important if parents or teachers suspect that a child is experiencing difficulties that the child is referred for assessment.
Please contact us to arrange an appointment. Our specialist clinicians can help assess your child’s developmental progress and guide you in what your child requires.
Initial Assessment & Diagnostic Evaluation
We offer 2 types of assessments:
- Multidisciplinary Assessments:
Comprehensive testing and consultation involving experienced developmental paediatricians, psychologists and/or speech therapists. - Individual appointments can be made with our experienced developmental paediatricians or psychologists.
Treatment & Management Plan
As part of the initial assessment & diagnostic evaluation, our experienced clinicians will recommend a management plan which lists treatment options based on your child’s needs.
Our Clinic can also offer a more detailed & specific treatment plan in collaboration with our experienced psychologists and speech therapists.
Ongoing treatment, support and review
After the initial assessment & treatment plan, we offer ongoing therapy and multidisciplinary review appointments to check your child’s progress and to update the treatment plan accordingly.
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