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Docs Missing Diagnoses?
By Richard | September 12, 2007
I don’t think this is much of a surprise to most parents of children with autism…
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Pediatricians May Miss Developmental Delays, But Parents Can Help
A simple questionnaire developed at the University of Oregon and requiring no more than 15 minutes of a parent’s time before or after a doctor’s appointment is credited with a 224-percent increase in referrals of one-year-old and 2-year-old children with mild developmental delays in a yearlong study.
Researchers found that on doctors’ observations alone 53 of 78 referrals for special services or additional monitoring would not have been made without the Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) filled out by parents at home or in the office. Thirty-eight children underwent further evaluation and qualified for federally funded early intervention services, and 44 others became eligible for additional monitoring.
“Seeing the results as a percentage was pretty shocking,” said lead author Hollie Hix-Small, who this year earned a doctorate from the Early Intervention Program in the UO College of Education. She now is a UO research associate and an independent early childhood consultant. MORE
Topics: Diagnosis |