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Each year, 10% of newborns are affected by a neurodevelopmental disorder. The Academy of Medicine recalls that in the interest of these children, it is essential to detect these disorders as early as possible in order to put in place appropriate measures quickly.
Behavioral disorders, learning disorders, autism… The term neurodevelopmental disorder encompasses a whole series of disabilities, which affect approximately 10% of children born each year. The early detection of these disorders is an essential element, which makes it possible to take advantage of the cerebral plasticity of the child to help him adapt as well as possible and “prevent over-disabilities”.
The importance of implementing early preventive actions
The Academy of Medicine therefore recommends the early identification of these disorders, insists on the essential role of the family, in “valuing and placing parents at the heart of their child’s care” and even invites health professionals to set up “thee preventive or therapeutic interventions and parental guidance as soon as possible” And this “as soon as the risks of TND are objectified, without waiting for a formal diagnosis“.
Questioned by Doctissimo, Florent Chapel, co-president of Autism Info Service welcomes this reminder and stresses that early treatment can only be beneficial for a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder.
“The importance of detecting these disorders very early helps children because we take advantage of brain plasticity which is all the more important the younger the child is, it allows certain behaviors to be corrected and others to be assimilated much more easily. for these children“.
Rejection by the Council of State
A position confirmed by the Council of State, which issued an opinion on June 17 rejecting all requests from psychologists regarding these children.
Indeed, the Council of State had been seized by several professional associations of psychologists and a trade union, which “asked for more freedom in the methods of caring for children at risk of presenting with TND“. A request therefore rejected, the Council of State “thus reinforces the operation of early detection and intervention systems”.
The recommendations of the Elders
To reinforce this early care, the Elders of the Academy of Medicine issue various recommendations. For them, you need:
- Train health and early childhood education professionals in new neurodevelopmental knowledge, identification and recommended practices;
- Inform, guide and support care partner parents and carers, and prevent disruptions in care pathways by promoting links between the family and other actors in the child’s health;
- Sustain monitoring networks for vulnerable newborns, including premature newborns at very high risk of TND;
- Increase the number of places in collective reception structures;
- Guarantee rapid access to care by strengthening, in particular, the new TND coordination and orientation platforms, the early medico-social action centers (CAMSP) and other early intervention health and medico-social structures;
- Accelerate research in biological and cognitive neuroscience, prioritizing studies on the developmental window of maximum brain plasticity of the first 1000 days.