TOTS AND THE TV

The idiot box can provide important 
clues to your child's development, reports Biplab Das 

Since a child is born, its parents remain concerned about its normal growth and development. Parents with no specialised knowledge however, fail to notice any anomalies in its behaviour. 

To address this problem, paediatrician B. W. Lloyd and his colleague K. Brodie, at North Middlesex Hospital, London, have devised a simple method to identify learning disabilities in children below the age of two years. 

Llyod and Brodie approached the parents of 797 children between the ages of eight and 23 months, and 26 children with Down syndrome, aged 18 months. A child who successfully named, imitated or pointed at television images of a cat, dog or baby was deemed to be normal. 

The respondents were parents of children admitted at the North Middlesex Hospital, but Lloyd excluded families who did not speak English or own a television. The parents were first asked whether their children could recognise the picture of a cat, dog or baby on the television screen. When their response was in the affirmative, they further investigated whether a child made wild guesses out of exuberance. This sort of guess was not considered a positive finding. 

At 18 months, a child who fails to show the expected level of language skills might develop learning disabilities or a severe language disorder. Using the same questionnaire, Brodie interviewed the parents of children with Down syndrome, telephonically. 

The results of the interview showed that by 18 months, 96 per cent of normal children recognised the television image of a cat, dog or baby. Of the 26 children with Down syndrome, five identified the same image. Despite knowing the tendency of parents to exaggerate their child's abilities, the cutoff point of 18 months seems to be valid. 

The study brought another issue of child psychology to the fore. According to Lloyd, a normal child's pointing is mostly 'protodeclerative'. It is a combination of two aspects of a child's behaviour. One of them is to properly single out the target image. The other is to share the joy of watching the image with its parents. The absence of the first skill is a sign of learning difficulties. The absence of the latter indicates autism. 

Apart from television images, there are other means of detecting a child's development process. According to a report, at 12 months, a child starts to point out objects of interest. By 15 months, it can enjoy a picture book. From 17 months onwards, it likes to be shown the book by an adult. At 20-24 months, a child of normal development is capable of identifying clear coloured pictures. 

Any child unable to pass Lloyd's milestone may have one of the three main developmental disorders: learning disabilities, a pure language disorder or autism. But children with mild learning and communication problems may manage to make the grade, as shown by the findings in children with Down syndrome. 

Lloyd however, was quick to point out that the study was not intended to breed excess television viewing. During the interviews, they advised the parents to limit their children's television viewing. 

"We consider that our milestone is a useful part of the developmental assessment of children aged 15-24 months. Unlike many milestones, ours is supported by information about a large number of children," writes Lloyd in a recent issue of British Medical Journal. Neither special equipment nor special training is needed to recognise this milestone. This method to probe a child's mind can be a very handy tool for general practitioners, parents and health workers.

    May 22, 2000.