Objective Universal newborn hearing screening has become standard practice in many countries. The primary goal of this study was to assess the impact of early identification of permanent childhood hearing loss on oral communication development. Setting Participants were recruited from three clinical programmes in two cities in the province of Ontario, Canada. The study sample was born during two consecutive periods of newborn hearing screening. The first period, prior to 2002, was targeted on high-risk infants only, and the second, from 2002, included both high-and standard-risk infants (universal newborn hearing screening -UNHS). All children were enrolled in rehabilitation programmes focused on oral language development. Methods In this multicentre observational study, 65 children under the age of five years with onset of hearing loss before six months of age, 26 identified through systematic newborn screening (14 through targeted screening and 12 through UNHS) and 39 without screening, were assessed with an extensive battery of child-and parent-administered speech and language measures. The degree of hearing loss ranged from mild to profound with 22 children in the mild, moderate and moderately severe categories and 43 in the severe and profound categories. Data are reported for the three-year study period. Results The screened group of children was identified at a median age of 6.6 (interquartile range, 3.0-8.2) months and children referred from sources other than newborn screening were diagnosed at a median age of 16.5 (interquartile range, 10.2-29.0) months. Assessment of oral communication development showed no significant difference between the screened and unscreened groups. The communication outcomes for children identified before 12 months of age did not differ from those of later identified children. Conclusions Systematic screening of newborn hearing results in earlier identification and intervention for children with permanent hearing loss. Superior language outcome following newborn screening was not demonstrable in the setting of this study.

Young children who are in early intervention programmes for speech/language delays may have significant co-ordination difficulties that will become more evident at kindergarten age when motor deficits begin to impact self-care and academic tasks. Clinical implications for early recognition of motor issues by speech/language pathologists and the potential use of parental reporting tools are addressed.

The aim of this study was to describe in detail a large group of children aged 4 to 12 years who were diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) by physicians following a rigorous multidisciplinary procedure. As part of a community‐based DCD knowledge translation program, physicians received specialized training and were invited to identify children with probable DCD who were referred for further investigation to help confirm the diagnosis. Of 116 children (87 males, 29 females; age range 4y 1mo ‐ 12y 11mo, mean age 8y) identified as having probable DCD by physician participants, 88 (76%) were subsequently diagnosed with DCD and 77.3% of these demonstrated a high degree of motor impairment. All children who were diagnosed experienced difficulties in self‐care and/or academic or leisure activities. The male:female ratio was 3:1 and the incidence of preterm births among this sample was 12.5%. We conclude that, given the expense involved with ruling out differential diagnoses, it can be difficult to adhere rigorously to diagnostic criteria for DCD in clinical practice and research. This description of a group of children actually diagnosed with DCD helps to clarify the characteristics of these children as well as issues related to the refinement of diagnostic criteria.

In recent years, knowledge about developmental coordination disorder (DCD) has accumulated very rapidly. Considerable progress has been made in the understanding of DCD, but recent studies have not been compiled in a way that makes them easily accessible to practicing paediatricians. In the present paper, the literature is reviewed and organized around the questions commonly raised by parents of children with DCD when they meet with their paediatrician. Parents express concern and seek information about their child's movement difficulties. They want to know what causes their child's lack of coordination and whether DCD is the correct diagnosis. Are other developmental disorders involved? What can they do to help their child's daily frustrations? The present review addresses frequently asked questions through a critical appraisal of current research literature. Paediatricians who are familiar with the research evidence will be better able to recognize these children and to share information with parents.