Children with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: The Essential Guide to Assessment and Management

Arnab Seal, Gillian Robinson, Anne M. Kelly, Jane Williams, eds. Children with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: The Essential Guide to Assessment and Management. London, England: Mac Keith Press; 2013 (743 pages). ISBN 978-1-908316-62-2.

This book has 4 editors and has contributions from 18 authors, all experienced in caring for children with neurodisabilities and devoted to providing optimal care to their patients and their families. This book provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of neurodevelopmental disabilities in childhood. It is a practical guide to the many etiologies, clinical presentations, associated disabilities, and treatments of children and adolescents with neurodisabilities. The book is aimed at pediatricians in training and other health care professionals. An extremely good aspect of the book is that the authors always approach topics from a holistic point of view. For example, the importance of transition and how to manage transitions are elegantly addressed in the chapter “Disordered development and learning disability.”

The layout of the book is quite attractive and each chapter has case vignettes and boxes highlighting key messages. Furthermore, informative and useful tables and flowcharts are provided throughout the book, which are particularly helpful in the chapters addressing presenting neurodevelopmental symptoms. For example, while explaining the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), a system used to characterize the severity of functional limitations in children with cerebral palsy, not only a table but also a figure that appropriately illustrates the motor function of each level has been provided. In addition, there are useful appendices at the end of the book that practitioners could use in routine practice. Throughout the chapters, there are helpful tips and comments not only for a pediatrician but also for an experienced health care professional. These tips include practical aspects such as helpful toys in an examination room or interaction and communication tips when examining a child with a neurodevelopmental disability.

The book provides a comprehensive overview of presenting symptoms and an assessment of development and neurology. Importantly, the authors devote three chapters (Chapters 12–14) to critical, albeit often ignored, topics such as interactions with families, supporting families with children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, and specific aspects of parental care. In these chapters, ethical and cultural perspectives as well as medical and developmental issues associated with caring for a child with a disability, such as feeding, sleeping, and puberty, are discussed.

Some chapters are rather short and only briefly touch upon important concepts such as quality of life. However, extending theses chapters would overload the book. Overall, this is a useful and much needed book for pediatricians and professionals caring for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and should be readily available in all bookshelves of hospitals and clinics attending to such children and their families.