Brachmann Cornelia De Lange Syndrome: A Tailored Approach for Assessment and Intervention Using the Griffiths III

Abstract

The process of evaluation and intervention of an atypical child poses challenges in a number of areas. These challenges include measures that are not normed for a clinical population, the interpretation of test scores and the use of test scores to devise a meaningful individualized intervention plan that also takes into account sociocultural issues affecting family functioning. To highlight these challenges, an evaluation of a 7-year 1month old girl with Brachmann Cornelia De Lange Syndrome is described using the Griffiths III Scales of Child Development together with the Conners 3- Parent Teacher Surveys and the Vineland Adaptive Scales. The Griffiths III results confirmed a pattern of global delay in all areas of her developmental functioning. The child demonstrated difficulty with the medical and behavioural manifestations of her genetic disorder that needed to be factored into the intervention strategy. The results guided the interventions of different professionals in developing an individualised intervention plan considering the above-identified challenges. The article serves thus as a guide on how to work creatively to determine the level of functioning of an atypical child in the light of the absence of normed measures for such children.