Abstract 774
Poster Session IV, Tuesday, 5/4 (poster 3)
Parents' concerns about physician delay in referring their children for early intervention (E.I.) services led to a survey all of early interventionists in Ontario. Interventionists were polled regarding their perceptions of physician referrals to E.I. for children experiencing a wide variety of developmental disabilities. 44 of the 45 existing early intervention programs in Ontario responded to the survey, providing data on the 6116 children currently receiving an in home intervention service. 21% of the children were at environmental risk for delay, 9.5% had a primary communication or autistic spectrum disorder, 8% had diagnoses of specific genetic disorders, while 7% had an undiagnosed developmental delay. Other medical diagnoses, for example prematurity and neuromotor disorders, account for the remaining majority of the programs' caseloads. Optimizing child development and providing family support and counselling were the primary goals of the intervention. 33% of the total referrals to these programs were made by physicians and hospitals, while 23.5% were made directly by the parents. One third of the parent referrals, however, were made on the advice of their physician. Almost 60% of referrals from physicians were from pediatricians while 30% were from family physicians. Responses from 82% of the intervention programs indicate that physicians wait too long before making a referral for intervention, primarily because there has been no confirmed developmental diagnosis. The greatest delays in referral were for children with communication disorders and those at risk for delay due to environmental factors. All programs responded that when physicians do make referrals to intervention they are appropriate 90-100% of the time (i.e. high specificity). Over 50% of the intervention programs report that parents do not feel that physicians have time to appreciate their concerns about their child's development. Similarly they feel their concerns are trivialized through what is often false reassurance regarding normal outcome.
