Consultation in paediatric rehabilitation for behaviour problems in young children with cerebral palsy and/or developmental delay.

To measure the effectiveness of consultation for behaviour problems in a paediatric rehabilitation setting, this paper used longitudinal assessment of children who received the intervention through their regularly scheduled appointments with their Occupational Therapist (OT), Physical Therapist (PT) or Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) at three paediatric rehabilitation clinics in Columbia, South Carolina. The participants were 86 children with cerebral palsy (CP), developmental delay (DD) and medical conditions, ages 1-6 years, and their families. The intervention consisted of monthly meetings between rehabilitation therapists and a team consisting of a Child Psychiatrist, Developmental Pediatrician, Psychologists and a Preventive Medicine specialist. There were statistically significant improvements in the sub-scales of the Vineland adaptive skills assessment and the measures of family stress associated with the parent's attitude toward the child with a disability. The magnitude of the improvement was greatest for children with Mental Development Indices (MDI) less than 50. This assessment of young children with disabilities demonstrates the effectiveness of a consultation model in improving adaptive behaviour and parent attitude about their child.