A complex transdisciplinary approach to understanding developmental difficulties in early childhood: Insights from Bethesda KIDSz’s diagnostic weeks

Abstract

The timely identification of early childhood developmental difficulties and delays, as well as the initiation of targeted support, fundamentally influences children’s developmental outcomes and family quality of life.

This study presents the diagnostic group assessment weeks of the Early Childhood Intervention and Diagnostic Service (KIDSz) at Bethesda Children’s Hospital, which enable complex, transdisciplinary assessment of children aged 2–5 years.

The program, rooted in a family-centered approach, integrates structured observations, group and individual assessments, and the systematic analysis of information from multiple sources. Experiences from the 2024 assessment weeks indicate that most children typically show difficulties across several developmental domains at an early age, most commonly in language, behaviour, social–communication skills and feeding.

The experiences of KIDSz are consistent with international research and underscore the importance of early transdisciplinary diagnostic approaches.

Keywords: early childhood assessment, family-centered approach, transdisciplinary diagnostics