RT Book, Section
A1 Blum, Nathan J.
A2 Rudolph, Colin D.
A2 Rudolph, Abraham M.
A2 Lister, George E.
A2 First, Lewis R.
A2 Gershon, Anne A.
SR Print(0)
ID 6738824
T1 Chapter 91. Developmental Delay
T2 Rudolph's Pediatrics, 22e
YR 2011
FD 2011
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-149723-7
LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=6738824
RD 2022/05/28
AB Child  development  is  a  dynamic  interaction  of  biologic  and  environmental  factors.  Typically,  over  a  period  of  many  years,  an  infant  who  is  initially  entirely  dependent  on  others  to  meet  life-sustaining  needs  such  as  food  and  shelter  develops  into  an  independent  adult  capable  of  caring  for  others.  Growth  of  a  child’s  skills  occurs  across  multiple  domains  of  development,  including  motor,  language,  cognitive,  and  socioemotional  domains,  and  allows  for  slowly  increasing  independence.  Within  any  single  domain,  the  sequence  of  new  skills  acquired  is  fairly  consistent,  but  there  is  significant  individual  variability  in  the  rate  of  development  within  and  across  the  different  domains  that  complicates  attempts  to  distinguish  children  with  normal  variations  in  development  from  children  with  developmental  delays.  However,  early  detection  of  developmental  delays  is  essential  to  promote  early  intervention  that  can  improve  developmental  outcomes  and  family  adjustment.  During  well-child  care,  clinicians  are  the  professionals  most  likely  to  interact  with  a  child  early  in  development  and  thus  have  a  unique  opportunity  and  responsibility  to  detect  children  with  developmental  delays.  The  approach  to  the  evaluation  of  developmental  delay  is  discussed  further  in  Chapters  185  and  547.