A mother presents with her 12m daughter. The child has no meaningful words, is unable to sit
unaided and can’t play with her toys. She doesn’t laugh and has poor interaction with her
siblings. What is the best management strategy?
a. Arrange hearing test
b. Assess developmental milestones
c. Reassure
d. Refer to speech therapist
e. MRI brain
Ans. The key is B. Assess developmental milestones. [At 12 month one word should be said clearly, in 8 months child can sit independently, smiles at 2 months and plays with toys since early infancy. So she needs to assess developmental milestones].