Child Development

The Department of Child Development team of over 100 staff comprising doctors, allied health professionals, nursing and administrative staff offers specialist diagnostic and intervention services for children with developmental or behavioral difficulties.  We provide services to more than 3000 new cases of preschool children per year.

We see a range of developmental issues such as speech and language delays, pronunciation and speech fluency disorders,  gross and fine motor delays, learning and behaviour problems, handwriting difficulties, autism spectrum disorder, global developmental delay, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and developmental delays associated from medical conditions

Children who are diagnosed with such problems at the hospital are followed-up at our community intervention centers where multidisciplinary early intervention and transdisciplinary services are provided. Children needing long term intervention services are referred to appropriate community services to help them develop and integrate into the community.

The department also runs a comprehensive outreach programme, partnering with preschools.  Ministries of Family and Social Development and Education and philanthropic organisations to bring early intervention to the classroom for children with developmental needs.

Child Development Programme:

• Assessment of children with developmental and behavioural concerns
• Inter-disciplinary and Trans-disciplinary Intervention services which include speech and language therapy, Occupational therapy, literacy intervention.
• Psychological consultation and intervention
• Social skills groups
• Referrals to community services
• Parent/caregiver training workshops
• Counselling and support for families of children with developmental and behavioural problems
• Liaison with schools for children with learning problems
• Placement of children with special needs for training and education
• Collaboration with Primary Health and Community Services for early identification of children with developmental and behavioural problems, to facilitate early intervention
• Timely Identification of Developmental and Behaviour problems in Toddlers (TIDBIT)
• Pilot projects and programmes
• BabySibs – Autism Screening Service in Singapore Toddlers (B-ASSIST)

Resources:

• My Visit to the Doctor - Pictorial Guide [2mb PDF]
• My Visit to the Audiologist - Pictorial Guide [2mb PDF]
• Choosing Interventions for your Preschooler with Autism [1.4mb PDF]