Developmental & Behavioral Pediatric Services
BJU is now offering a new service in its Pediatrics Specialty Clinic: developmental & behavioral pediatric services (DBPS). DBPS treats and manages infants, children and adolescents who have a wide range of developmental and behavioral conditions.
Pediatrics Specialty Clinic
According to the new DBPS Director, long-time United Family Healthcare (UFH) pediatrician Dr. Alan Mease, these concerns and physical complaints are best addressed by using a biobehavioral approach. DBPS will evaluate and monitor progress in children who are at risk for developmental and behavioral disorders on the basis of a variety of factors, including biological and psychosocial.
Dr. Mease encourages parents to bring their children for a consultation if they or their children have any of the following:
- concerns about language or motor development
- concerns about social, emotional or mental development
- concerns about learning difficulties
- concerns about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- concerns about autism or an autistic spectrum disorder
All graduates of Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) are encouraged to come in for a consultation, especially children who were considered a “very pre-term birth” (gestational age less than 32 weeks) or “extremely pre-term birth” (gestational age less than 25 weeks).
Children who experience the following are also encouraged to come in for a consultation:
- school problems
- cerebral palsy
- Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) and other genetic syndromes
- colic
- repetitive behaviors/tics
“There are a lot of medical issues associated with any of these [listed above] conditions,” Dr. Mease said. “The younger the kids are when you detect these issues, the more effective the intervention becomes.”
Dr. Mease said that his motivation for establishing the new service was to give children more time and attention than they would receive at a regular Pediatrics clinic. The children that DBPS services would receive the special testing they need. They would also benefit from the service’s multidisciplinary approach that combines Pediatric medicine; psychology; and speech, occupational and physical therapy.
Dr. Mease has worked with children in China for more than 10 years. He has experience with all of the conditions listed above and is happy to now have the environment and time to focus on these specialty issues. “Advances in neuroscience have shown that early intervention yields great benefits in the lives of children with developmental delays,” Dr. Mease said. “I’m building a program to support [early intervention in China].” According to Dr. Mease, additional medical and social support for children and families of children with special conditions is sorely needed.
To contact DBPS, please call the BJU Pediatrics Department at (010) 5927 7222. For more information about DBPS, please visit www.chinadevpeds.com.
