Improving the early detection of children with subtle developmental problems.

This article briefly reviews the recent literature identifying the possible reasons why children with subtle developmental problems are passing through health care systems undetected. It offers some explanations as to why consequently, in many Western societies, a large number of these children are not identified by health professionals until they reach school age. Early identification is one of the challenges facing health visitors or child health nurses, and it is suggested that if they can utilize the knowledge and experience of parents, the opportunities for early identification and intervention would be dramatically improved.