The Development of Young Children. The Review of Assessment Methods

Abstract

The problem of the state of health of early children, especially infants of the perinatal risk group, remains relevant. Modern trials show that the first two to three years of a child's life are an important age period and the infant's nervous system has significant compensatory capabilities during this period. Delayed psychomotor development may be the first sign of distress, and may be a leading syndrome in various somatic or neurological diseases in etiology and pathogenesis. Accordingly, it is important to be able to objectively monitor the main parameters of development throughout the entire period of early childhood. Today the Prechtl's Method is a unified and reliable methodology. In recent years, the most prognostically significant features of general movements have definitely been identified and their clinical role has been considered in detail, especially with regard to the prediction of cerebral palsy. Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination is a highly reliable method of neurological examination of premature and full-term newborns. Habilitation programs should be implemented within the framework of the concept of early intervention. It is necessary to have a unified methodology for monitoring, correcting or minimizing consequences of disease based on the knowledge of ontogenetic features of the child organism, objective data on structural and functional disorders thereof and the degree of restriction of activity and participation for successful habilitation of at risk kids.