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ADOPTION AND PRENATAL ALCOHOL AND DRUG EXPOSURE
Practice Recommendations
II. Child Assessment
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Children born to mothers suspected of using drugs or alcohol during pregnancy need accurate assessments and diagnoses.
Melina 1997.
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Accurate assessment and diagnosis of health and developmental problems associated with prenatal alcohol and drug exposure are critical. However, accurate assessment/ diagnosis may be impeded by:
- Difficulties in differentiating among the specific effects of various substances in the case of polydrug abuse
- Difficulties in determining the timing and frequency of substance use
- Individual differences among pregnant women, including the ways in which substances are metabolized, nutritional status, prenatal health care, and exposure to communicable diseases
- Lack of correlation between newborn behaviors related to prenatal exposure and long-term effects [at one end of the spectrum, there are infants who are seemingly symptom free at birth but for whom health and developmental effects become apparent later - including learning problems; at the other end of the spectrum, there are infants who are clearly experiencing withdrawal symptoms at birth but who normally develop]
- Insufficient sensitivity of current standardized measure for evaluating infant and toddler development.
Assessment Options
Infants and Young Children: Some standardized tests are available [such as the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, the Gesell Development Schedules, and the Denver Developmental Screening Test] to evaluate infants' and young children's skills in: personal/social, language, adoptive/cognitive, and motor areas.
- Benefits: Information about current strengths and problems areas and may suggest future problems with moderate to severe mental retardation.
- Limitations: Not sufficiently sensitive to identify a particular child who may subsequently exhibit short attention span, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, or other developmental problems over time.
Children Age 3 through Preschool: Tests are available to measure IQ {Weschler and McCarthy scales to measure cognitive abilities] and social and behavioral problems [such as the Achenbach Child Behavioral Checklist].
- Benefits: Help to identify warning signs [delayed language development, poor fine motor coordination, hyperactivity, short attention span] for future learning difficulties.
- Limitations: Indicate risk status only and cannot be used to predict specific learning problems.
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
PRENATAL SUBSTANCE EXPOSURE
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conference program | conference materials | findings and recommendations | misconceptions | tips for families |
select bibliography | press release | links
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