Children with both developmental and behavioral needs: profile of two clinic populations

Little has been written about evaluation and intervention services for children with a combination of behavioral and developmental needs. Two multidisciplinary clinic populations were compared, a traditional Developmental Disabilities (DD) clinic and a Behavioral-Developmental Problems (BDP) Clinic that had the additional services of a child psychiatrist. The BDP clinic children had lower IQ's and more severe overall behavioral problems than children in the traditional DD clinic, but differences were not statistically significant. Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other psychiatric diagnoses were referred to both clinics at comparable rates. The effort to involve qualified mental health professionals in all aspects of professional training and clinical service for the DD population should be accelerated.