Gone are the days of waiting for a single pediatrician to guide you to specialized information. Child development experts provide guidance directly to parents via courses, mentorship, and other digital resources. Which begs the question, what are all those acronyms and credentials?
We made a handy cheat sheet to help you understand some of the different experts who dedicate their life work to children and families.
First, it can be helpful to consider the five main areas of child development:
Gross motor development
large movements that involve muscles in the arms, legs, and torso
Fine motor development
smaller actions of the fingers and hands that impact the ability to do everyday functional tasks
Speech and language
Communication, hearing, and language skills
Cognitive and intellectual
brain skills like information processing, intelligence, reasoning, and memory
Social and emotional
self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship skills
Here's a short sample of experts related to these fields:
Physical Therapist (PT)
A pediatric PT helps children improve their strength, coordination, balance, and overall physical functioning through targeted exercises, activities, and interventions.
Occupational Therapist (OT)
A pediatric OT focuses on enhancing a child's fine motor skills, sensory processing, self-care abilities, and overall independence through customized interventions and therapeutic strategies.
Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)
A pediatric SLP addresses a wide range of speech and language difficulties, including articulation disorders, language delays, stuttering, voice disorders, and difficulties with swallowing or feeding.
Parent-child interaction therapist (PCIT)
A PCIT implements behavioral therapy to improve the relationship and communication between parents and their children, particularly those with disruptive behaviors, conduct disorders, or emotional difficulties.
Registered Play Therapist (RPT)
An RPT is a mental health professional with specialized training in play therapy. It is a therapeutic approach that uses play and creative activities to help children express their emotions and address psychosocial issues.
Developmental-Behavior Pediatrician (DBP)
These pediatricians have expertise in identifying and managing various developmental and behavioral conditions, including autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, learning disabilities, and emotional or social challenges.
There are also sleep, feeding, postpartum, and safety experts, such as:
Board Certified Specialist in Pediatric Nutrition (CSP)
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)
Perinatal Mental Health Certification (PMH-C)
Certified Doula (CD)
Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST)
Certified Babywearing Educator (CBE)
Certified Breastfeeding Specialist (CBS)