Abstract
Early intervention or infant stimulation programs have been developed for those children who are at risk for not achieving normal developmental milestones because of environmental or biologic problems. The high-risk children who have organic deficits can be identified by in utero, neonatal, or postnatal difficulties that have been correlated with specific diagnostic categories such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and learning disabilities. Whether early recognition and initiation of stimulation for this group of infants enhance neurologic development is unproven. On the other hand, there is no doubt that families of these children, and especially their mothers, have a much greater degree of stress compared with that experienced by families from the same socioeconomic backgrounds and whose children do not have such problems. Because of this observation, the programs must offer not only motoric, cognitive, and language stimulation, but also supportive psychological services. The pediatrician should take a leadership role in helping families understand the purpose of infant stimulation programs in order to prevent disappointments when the infants involved with these programs make minimal gains. The pediatrician's ongoing support to the family is necessary, not only during the first few years of the child's life but even through the school-age years. It is also encumbent upon the pediatrician to develop a knowledge of programs available as well as a knowledge of the law as it pertains to the handicapped child.
Published Version
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