Monitoring Child Development

Once we become parents, alongside the excitement and joy of bringing new life into the world, there are concerns and fears. One of the main concerns of parents: is whether the development of my child is normal and good? Is there a problem or delay that needs to be professionally handled?

First of all, it is important to note that every child develops at a different rate and slow development does not necessarily indicate a problem. Most children eventually develop similarly within a certain age range.

Supervision, education and identification

Development monitoring conducted as part of the Family Care Center sessions from birth to age 6, is designed to ensure normal development, to guide you in the first steps of caring for the infant and to provide personal advice and professional information.
If a visit to Family Care Center raises concern about a developmental disorder, the staff will refer you to the treating physician to determine the need for a developmental diagnosis. Additionally, if you are concerned about a developmental delay in the child, it is important that you share your concerns with the staff at the Family Care Center or directly contact the pediatrician for a referral for a diagnosis at a child development institute.
Some circumstances increase the risk of developmental delays, such as premature birth, family history of developmental delays, neurological diseases, syndromes or birth defects. In these cases, it is especially important to monitor the development and consult a pediatrician when necessary.

To facilitate the process and help with any aspect related to the diagnosis and treatment of developmental delays, you should first become familiar with the structure of the child's development system and the areas of treatment for which it is responsible.

Diagnosis and treatment

The child development system in Israel currently handles a range of developmental cognitive, motor, language and communication disorders.

Today, approximately 10%–15% of children between the ages of birth to 9 are referred for a diagnosis in the system, but only some are found to have a significant developmental delay that justifies multidisciplinary treatment in professional institutes.
The child development system consists of three tiers:

• Child development centers: child development institutes are responsible for the entire diagnostic process and for determining the right therapy. When it comes to children with severe and complex developmental disorders, their treatment will be provided by the institute. All others will be directed to continue treatment in one of the Ministry of Health-licensed child development units.
  There are currently 40 child development institutes in Israel, some of which belong to the Ministry of Health and are located in government hospitals and some belong to the HMOs (apart from one institute that works in an arrangement with the HMOs).
  The staff is composed of professionals from all child development disciplines, as well as consultants from other fields of medicine as required.
  
  List of child development institutes (Hebrew)
  
  
• Child development units (providers recognized by the Ministry of Health): following diagnosis at the institute, most children will be referred to one of the child development units for continued treatment. There are currently over 100 child development units located across the country to enable children to receive treatment close to home. Some of the units were established within the confines of the National Program for Children at Risk, and others are operated by public associations with the help of the local authority, HMOs and the network of community centers.
  
  List of child development units (Hebrew)
  
  
• Private therapy: when discussing children with mild developmental delays in only one area or children over the age of 9, you may receive a referral from the HMO for private therapy from professionals outside the child development system. For instance, children with pronunciation disorders will be referred to speech therapy, children with a learning disability will be referred for remedial instruction, and so on. It is important to know that these are professional therapists who were required to satisfy several criteria to be recognized as authorized developmental therapists.