From Birth to Five Years ─ Practical Developmental Examination

From Birth to Five Years: Practical Developmental Examination is a step-by-step ‘how to’ guide to the developmental examination of pre-school children. This book has been developed alongside the original From Birth to Five Years as a companion volume that expands on the normative developmental stages outlined in Mary Sheridan’s pioneering work in the field, by offering practical guidance for health, education and social care professionals, or anyone concerned with putting the theory behind children’s developmental progress into practice in a real-life setting.

This book is based on up-to-date research into current child development philosophies and practices, and aims to support the wider group of professionals that are required to assess children’s developmental progress as part of their day-to-day working practices. The book begins with a practical framework for developmental examination, then progresses through each of the key physical, cognitive and social developmental assessment areas, offering guidance on enquiry and observation, and how to chart typical and atypical patterns, with ‘red flags’ for recognising significant delay or abnormality. Advice is also given on how to make sense of the findings and how best to communicate this information to parents.

To consolidate and expand on the practical and theoretical information across this book and the original From Birth to Five Years, a new companion website is available at www.routledge.com/cw/sharma, which includes the following additional learning material:

• An interactive timeline of the key developmental domains
• Introductions to theory with links to further reading
• Research summaries
• Video clips demonstrating practical assessment skills

Ajay Sharma is a Consultant Community Paediatrician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in Southwark, London.

Helen Cockerill is a Consultant Speech and Language Therapist at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in Southwark, London.