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First Signs, Inc.: Educating Physicians About Developmental Screening
 From the October 2001 Early Childhood newsletter.Early interventionists know the importance of developmental screening to identify disabilities or delays early in a child's life; now, Nancy Wiseman is working hard to make such screening a reality. Since 1998, she has served as founder and president of First Signs, an advocacy group committed to promoting developmental screening for all children. Screening is Essential Ms. Wiseman knows the importance of early screening all too well. Her daughter, now 5-1/2, was diagnosed with autism at 23 months of age. Ms. Wiseman recalls her numerous inquiries during well-child visits about her daughter's lack of babbling, self-absorption, and failure to respond to her name or others' affections. "Unfortunately, our pediatrician didn't have the tools to diagnose [autism] and didn't refer us to early intervention." At 23 months, her daughter was finally referred for a speech and hearing assessment and it was discovered that her receptive and expressive language skills and social-emotional development lagged far behind the norms for her age. She was eventually diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Ms. Wiseman happily reports that her daughter responded very well to intervention and now attends school with typically developing children. Although she still has some language delays and auditory processing difficulties, her cognitive and receptive skills are actually above the norms for her age. But, Ms. Wiseman adds, "we lost about a year [of potential intervention]." Getting the Word Out It is her daughter's experience that compelled Ms. Wiseman to found First Signs. The organization's goal is to educate parents about developmental delays and early intervention, and to educate physicians about the importance of regular developmental screening and the tools available to do it. This education appears to be particularly important in light of the fact that 70% of developmental delays are not identified in pediatricians' offices. In April, First Signs launched a pilot project in New Jersey. Working in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, First Signs sent a mailing to every pediatrician in the state, offering them the opportunity to earn continuing education credits by participating in the First Signs program. The program consists of viewing the First Signs video on screening and developmental delays, filling out an evaluation questionnaire, and ordering the First Signs kit of screening tool samples, which also includes directions for their use, a milestones wall chart, and an early intervention referral guide. A pamphlet will also be sent soon to New Jersey parents of children between 10 and 24 months of age. The pamphlet focuses on developmental milestones and encourages parents to discuss these milestones with their child's pediatrician and to request developmental screening. Goals for the Future Ms. Wiseman reports that she has received phone calls and e-mails from parents all over the country and the world asking for help with getting screening and referrals for their children. First Signs is currently working on grant proposals to extend the New Jersey program to other states. "If a child has a developmental delay, we want them flagged and referred to early intervention. We're just asking pediatricians to screen and refer to early intervention specialists if problems appear. There's so much you can do early in life for a child. They shouldn't have to wait." For more information, check out the First Signs web site.
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