Key developmental milestones helped to identify children with special educational needs and disabilities at an early...

Responding to developmental delay promptly is important, as it helps children to reach their full potential. This study investigated how developmental milestones predicted primary school children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) at an early stage.

We obtained data about 36 milestones between 12 and 45 months using the Dutch Development Instrument. Development, primary school classification and background characteristics were collected from the Dutch Preventive Child Healthcare system in Utrecht from 2008 to 2016. We investigated SEND classifications and the primary schools that the children attended at 4-12 years of age. The findings include area under the curve (AUC) data.

Data on 30 579 children in mainstream schools and 1055 children with SEND were available. Different milestones predicted SEND classifications. Fourteen milestones and parental education predicted attendance at special needs schools with smaller classes (AUC 0.913). Nine milestones, sex, migration background and parental education predicted attendance at schools for severe communication problems (AUC 0.963). Ten milestones and parental education predicted attendance at schools for severe learning difficulties (AUC 0.995). Milestones did not accurately predict attendance at schools for severe behavioural or psychiatric problems.

Milestones at 12-45 months predicted most SEND classifications at primary school age, except severe behavioural or psychiatric problems.