The role of professionals in assessment
The child development or assessment team
Child development teams are uniquely placed to offer assessment of movement disorders because the team will usually have children’s doctors trained in assessing child development and with experience of abnormal patterns of development, and therapists who have expertise in both assessing movement and providing appropriate interventions either to individual children of to groups of children with similar problems. Often these teams will offer multidisciplinary assessment – so the child sees all three professionals at the same time. This has advantages for the child, the family and the professionals themselves and allows for coordinated planning of assessment and intervention with close inter-professional cooperation and full involvement of child and family (a family centred service). These professionals are usually part of a Health Team and may work in a hospital or community setting. They will often have close links with schools especially special educational needs coordinators (SENCos) and some therapists may visit schools in an advisory and consultative capacity.
Health personnel, particularly paediatricians, are invested with the authority to make a diagnosis which is often an important milestone in understanding a child’s difficulties and paves the way for greater understanding by family and schools. Referral is particularly important if neurological causes are suspected and if comorbidities require treatment. Child development teams may provide crucial evidence when children are formally assessed as requiring a Statement of Educational Need, and will usually have provided evidence prior to that stage being reached.
A child development team will often play a coordinating role for the family especially if other health personnel need to be involved (for example Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services CAMHS or Speech and Language therapists)
The role of the physiotherapist
Physiotherapists have expertise in developing gross motor skills and with this group of children may aim to improve the muscle strength proximally i.e. around the trunk, so that there is a point of fixation which will enable the child to improve their co-ordination skills, concentration and other related difficulties. Improving self confidence and self esteem is a vital part of the treatment so that the child is able to attempt new activities and feel successful.
