If you are concerned that your child might not be meeting the development milestones for their age, or if you think there could be a problem with the way they play, act, move, learn or speak , talk to your GP or healthcare professional and share your concerns.
If your child is in an early years setting, pre-school or nursery you can talk to the staff there or another professional such as a health visitor or childminder.
Your doctor, school or healthcare professional can discuss with you whether there may be cause for concern, or whether you child is just a late developer.
If the professional agrees that there is cause for concern, they will consider whether your child needs a referral to the community paediatrics service.
More information and resources about children’s development and health is available through the Bromley 0-19 website.
Understanding if your child's difficulties might be short term, or whether they might have special educational needs or a disability (SEND) that requires extra support is essential to ensuring they get the support they need as early as possible.
Community paediatrics
The community paediatrics service provides medical care for children with developmental difficulties, and special needs such as, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or genetic disorders and disabilities
They also provide support for the assessment of children with special educational needs. They offer medical assessment and ongoing support for children with chronic constipation, soiling, enuresis (bed wetting) and growth problems.
The service provides vaccination medical advice at the specialist immunisation clinic.
Using this service
If you think your child would benefit from the service then you should speak to your doctor (GP), school nurse, health visitor, social worker or your child’s teacher. They can refer you.
Who should I talk to?
My child is under 5 – health visiting service
Health visitors are qualified nurses or midwives who have completed further training. The health visiting service has drop-in clinics at convenient places across Bromley where you can get advice. As your baby or child grows, they will continue to check their development and offer additional support advice or referral on to other services if needed.
My child is under 5 – Children and Family Centres
The Children and Family Centres are open to all families, although services are targeted at families with children aged 5 – and expectant parents.
At the centres you will find a wide range of courses and drop in sessions for parents and children, including parenting course, targeted support groups, midwives clinics, baby clinics and breast feeding support.
My child is 6 or over
If your child is 6 or over and you have concerns you should contact your GP or school SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator). They will be able to offer advice and support to reassure you that your child s development in mot something to worry about or they can help you to access support service such as the Community Paediatrician service if they agree that there may be cause for concern.
Diagnosis and post diagnosis support
Finding out that you or your child has a special educational need or disability can be a confusing and emotional time. While some parents or carers may receive a specific diagnosis at an early stage, others may learn later that their child has an additional need or global development delay. Some children and young people may start to experience problems later in life and so the process for getting a diagnosis may start later.
Find out more about getting a diagnosis and the support available.
Learning
Some children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have needs or disabilities that affect their ability to learn. Special educational needs are not always a lifelong problem. Some children only need support for a short time. Find out more about the early support available and What to do if you think your child or young person has special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities
b-Hive
A website for parent/carers to support them with their child’s communication development, physical skills and independence.
Created by local health services and Bromley Council to pull together the range of therapies that support the communication development, physical skills and independence of children, teenagers and young adults in Bromley.
The guide incorporates a collective range of therapies, such as: emotional wellbeing and mental health; occupational therapy; physiotherapy; speech and language therapy; and special educational needs (SEN) advisory service.
The b-Hive is shaped around six core areas of child development which support the child
Need more help?
The Information, Advice and Support Service provides confidential and impartial advice and information to support parents or carers and children and young people who have, or may have, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) aged 0 to 25.
Information, advice and support service
Telephone line is open 9.30am-1pm and 2-4pm
Address: