PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mary Ann Sharkey
AU  - Marsha E. Palitz
AU  - Lynn F. Reece
AU  - Brenda L. Rutherford
AU  - Jennifer P. Akers
AU  - Barbara L. Alvin
AU  - Brian R. Budenholzer
TI  - The Effect Of Early Referral And Intervention On The Developmentally Disabled Infant: Evaluation At 18 Months Of Age
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.3.3.163
DP  - 1990 Jul 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Practice
PG  - 163--170
VI  - 3
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/3/3/163.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/3/3/163.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med1990 Jul 01; 3
AB  - This study examines the age of referral and the effect of early intervention for the physically handicapped child. Fifty children were referred before 9 months of age, and they were compared with 55 children referred after 9 months of age. At 18 months of age, the children in the earlier referred group showed greater developmental progress in acquisition of skills in all of the six areas tested: perceptual-fine motor (P < 0.0003), cognition (P < 0.0001), language (P < 0.0004), social-emotional (P < 0.0001), self-care (P < 0.0001), and gross motor (P < 0.0002). The results show that, at least in the short term, there is a critical age for onset of intervention to achieve the most benefit for the developmentally disabled child. Family physicians should be alert to early warning signs of neurological deficits in order to obtain early treatment for these children.