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"Child development" has always been a traditional component of well child care and a particular area of interest for pediatricians, child neu rologists, and psychologists. However, it was not until the early 1960s that children with developmental disabilities (i. e. , chronic handicapping disorders) became a major focus of public and professional attention. During this period, children with "special needs" were dramatically catapulted into the limelight and "exceptional" became the buzzword of the day. Public and professional awareness of these issues reached new peaks and recognition of the potential psychosocial impairments of chil dren with developmental disabilities created national anxiety. A variety of factors contributed to an unprecedented societal advocacy for chil dren with developmental problems: (1) a national concern generated by President Kennedy'S particular interest in mental retardation; (2) in creased activity and visibility of parent advocacy/lobbying groups (e. g. , the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities); (3) the enact ment of federal legislation designed to protect the rights of the handi capped (e. g. , PL94-142); and (4) the popularization of developmental behavioral disabilities by the various communications media. Cumulatively these events precipitated a redefinition of the real mean ing of "comprehensive health care for children," resulting in an empha sis on the child's neurodevelopmental, educational, psychological, and social needs. For the pediatrician, a myriad of new management respon sibilities were mandated, in addition to the traditional health care con cerns.
List of contents
1: New Genetic Syndromes.- 2: Adolescents with Chronic Handicaps: Problems of Sexual and Emotional Development.- 3: Divorce: A Developmental-Behavioral Disorder?.- 4: The Learning-Disabled Child/Adolescent: Improving Self-Esteem.- 5: Military and Civilian Developmental Medicine: Bridging the Gap.- 6: Hospitalization of Children: Its Impact, Use, and Abuse.- 7: The Physician in the Courtroom: How and How Not To Act.- 8: Office Management of the Oppositional Child.- 9: Promoting the Development of Children in Busy Primary Health Care Settings.- 10: Chronic Otitis Media, Speech/Language Disorders, and Learning Disabilities: Is There a Link?.- 11: The Latchkey Child: A New Psychosocial Challenge in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics.- 12: Emotional and Behavioral Milestones in Infancy and Early Childhood.- 13: Accepted and Controversial Neuromotor Therapies for Infants at High Risk for Cerebral Palsy.- 14: Child Abuse and Neglect.- 15: Ideas from Our Evolutionary Past: Implications for the Care of Children at the End of the Twentieth Century.- 16: Developmental Disabilities: The Military Experience.- 17: Learning Disabilities: A Neurologist's Perspective.- 18: Epilepsy: Developmental and Behavioral Sequelae.- 19: Childhood Headaches.- 20: Neurologic Aspects of Autism and Rett Syndrome.- 21: Adolescent Alcohol Abuse: A Review.- 22: The Controversial Therapies Proposed for Treatment of the Child with Learning Disabilities and/or Attention Deficit Disorder.
