What to do if you spot a developmental problem and who would you refer to?

Question

can anyone help please

Answer 1

Matt had a great answer. :) It's really important to make specific and accurate observations.

Surprisingly often, the pediatrician is not the best choice for reporting problems. Doctors really have very little training in some areas of child development, and they often fail to refer children to intervention services available to them.

You can refer to your public school district's special education evaluation team. This is a team of psychologists, teachers, nurses, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists that are employed by the school district to find and serve children with developmental problems. Their services are free and mandated by the federal government.

Answer 2

I think your G.P. would give the best advice.

Answer 3

Your direct boss

Answer 4

The first thing to remember is that you cannot diagnose anything.  So be careful about how you approach this.  If a parent asks, "What do you think it is?" be very careful with that answer.  Say you're not sure, but that they should discuss it with their doctor and you'll work with whatever the diagnosis is, if there is one.

What you want to do is document exactly what you see that is different.  Does the child play differently than the other children?  Do you notice he or she has trouble with coordination (and what, exactly, do you notice..the way they walk, their ability to judge space, etc.)?

You want to be specific and factual in your note taking.  Don't say, "Jimmy has trouble with coordination."  Say, "At 1:30 PM, Jimmy was walking and stumbled without apparent cause into the wall.  At 2:00, he fell backwards in the line and knocked over 2 children."  If you notice he is playing differently...how?  "Jimmy does not move the cars like a car, but prefers to simply line them up according to color."

The specifics will help the doctor a LOT.

It will also give you something to say to the parents.  Making broad statements can come off as you labeling the child.  Making specific statements and getting their feedback on what they notice will help the parent.

As a person who does not own the day care, you want to bring these concerns to your supervisor or director before talking to the parents.  Most will be open to hear your observations, but the last thing they want is to get a call from a parent who is upset because of something they had no clue happened.

Matt

Answer 5

If you are a junior member of staff you refer to your line manager, if you are in charge of the Nursery your first port of call is to inform the parents of your concerns. You can ask for the child to be taken to the doctors or if you have access to a Special Needs Co-ordinator you would refer the child to the co ordinator.

Answer 6

What do you do:

1) write it down-date and time it. Be factual NOT opinion.

2) follow settings SEN poliicy for concerns.

Who would you refer to:

1) SENCO (Special Educational NEeds Coordinator) every setting has one in England.

2) Or Area SENCO/Advisor

3) Lead Practitioner or child's key person.

If you are a student then it is not your responsiblilty to evaluate or discuss anything with the parents. You should just report it to other staff members and they will then follow on...they may ask you for further observation or to play with him!

Answer 7

You talk to the senior staff of the nursery who are employing you, there are no 'ifs' and 'buts' here.  Many parents are failing to get children with special education needs diagonised early enough to get extra help, so any decent nursery should take this into account to help both the children and the parents.