How we work

The assessment and management of child development disorders is a complex area. There are a wide variety of beliefs, and an equally diverse set of approaches that professionals bring to this type of work. This document is to outline our philosophy, and how we put this into practice.

Developmental problems come to attention in several ways. Your child may behave differently from expected, or fail to learn knowledge or skills at the rate you would expect. They may be slow at walking or learning to talk. Later, they may struggle with social skills or learning in school. Alternatively, they may be different - with poor attention control or unusual behaviour.

Our philosophy builds on the belief that a true developmental problem arises due to biological differences - usually in the child's brain. In other words, what you see in their development is the consequence of these innate neurological differences.

To diagnose this we need to be sure that the problems are not due to some other cause such as a medical disease, or problems in home or school life.

The next building block is to look into the future. Some developmental problems can be described as 'delays' - suggesting that with time and extra help the child can mature, and grow out of the problem. However, most true developmental problems are not delays - they are disorders. This means that the innate neurological difference (the biological problem) stays with the child lifelong.

As a result, our way of working is built on this assumption is that developmental disorders cannot be 'cured' with therapies, medical or 'alternative' treatments. Instead it is our job to help children grow up to have the best possible life they can have.

To achieve their 'personal best', there is much that can be done. We describe this as a series of stages, and each stage is described in a separate document - click on that stage to open the document.

Management Stages

  1. Turning concerns into answerable questions, and answering those questions
  2. Coming to terms with the assessment results
  3. Setting up for the journey
  4. Setting goals - short term and long term
  5. Therapies and interventions
  6. Achieving and renewing the short term goals
  7. Working towards the long-term goals
  8. Monitoring progress as time passes

At the Child Development Network we will be able to support you across each of these stages. We believe that in this way, you will be able to manage your child so that they have the best possible life.