Griffiths III

The Gold Standard in Child Development Testing

How is the Griffiths III used around the world and here in Brisbane?

Griffiths III, the latest version of the Griffiths Scales of Child Development is the ‘gold standard’ in child development testing. The standardisation was conducted by the Association for Research in Infant and Child Development (ARICD) and completed in 2015 using a representative sample from the UK and Ireland. It is for continuous use from 1 month to 5 years and 11 months. 

Griffiths III provides an overall measure of a child’s development, as well as an individual profile of strengths and needs across five areas: 

  • Foundations of Learning:  Assesses critical aspects of learning during the early childhood years  
  • Language and Communication: Measures overall language development, including expressive language, receptive language, and use of language to communicate socially with others 
  • Eye and Hand Coordination: Considers fine motor skills, manual dexterity, and visual perception skills 
  • Personal-Social-Emotional: Measures constructs relating to the child’s developing sense of self and growing independence, interactions with others, and many aspects of emotional development
  • Gross Motor: Assesses postural control, balance, and gross body coordination, among other abilities 
Children's Development - Little Girls Drawing

Children's Development Testing

Griffiths III is used by Dr Farana Khan to assess a child’s development profile and level.  This helps to work out if a child is developing appropriately for their age.  A specific area of difficulty may identify and link a child’s difficulty to a specific developmental disorder or learning disorder.  The Griffiths III can help Dr Farana Khan track, monitor, plan for and measure the impact of interventions.

Dr Farana Khan takes up to two hours to complete this assessment.  It may be scheduled over two sessions if the child is likely to be fatigued.

The Griffiths Developmental Assessment will only be done after an initial general Paediatric appointment of 75 minutes. A referral letter from your child’s GP is required to obtain a Medicare rebate.  

"Child development does not mean developing your child into the person you think they should be, but helping them develop into the best they are meant to be."

Tori Sorenson

What Is The Child Development Testing Process?

  1. Concern that a child has development delay or learning disorder
  2. See the child’s GP and obtain a referral letter addressed to Dr Farana Khan
  3. Send in the GP referral letter – the doctor will either accept the referral or redirect the referral back to the GP (because we cannot provide the appropriate medical care).  This will take between 1-3 weeks.
  4. Fill out Medsana New Patient Form
    • Registration Form
    • Patient details
    • Parent details
    • Note: At this point in time, we are unable to see children in out of home care.
  5. Fill out Paediatric Questionnaire appropriate for age
  6. Welcome Email will be sent with details of the appointment time, fees and cancellation policy.  You will only be offered an appointment and receive this email once all the above steps are done. 
  7. Initial General Paediatrician Consultation
    • 5 – 10 mins with the Registered Nurse for measurements
    • 75 minutes with the paediatrician 
  8. Complete questionnaires as requested by paediatrician
  9. Book and attend the Griffiths appointment(s) with Dr Farana Khan.  This may be one session up to two hours or split into two sessions on two different days if the child is fatigued.
  10. Book and attend the review appointment for feedback of results, formulation of diagnosis and plan of management. 

Forms

Please download an appropriate form to be completed. 

Forms

Please select the forms to be completed. Note: Only two forms are required to be submitted. 

  1. Teacher or Parent Form
  2. Patient – Preschool, Primary School or High School

Timely PCR Swab Service

Available between 8:30am – 9am

 

  1. Short Telephone Consult with the patient – bulk billed if Medicare eligible. Private fees with no Medicare rebates apply if the patient has not seen us in the last 12 months.
  2. The doctor will request a respiratory panel for viruses and bacteria (where clinically appropriate).  For example, Influenza, Covid, RSV, mycoplasma, pertussis and so forth.  Not all possible infections are on this panel.  The doctor may decline the request if it is not appropriate and direct the patient accordingly.
  3. Normal fees will apply if more than swabbing is requested.  Clinical examination and other requests requires a normal consultation at another time.
  4. Patient arrives at the car park next to Building 10 before 11am.  Or takes the pathology request to another 4Cyte collection centre.
  5. Patient calls reception to notify of their arrival so the 4Cyte Pathology Collector can gown up and go the patient’s car to swab the patient.
  6. PCR swab gets sent to 4Cyte.  The processing times varies according to workflows.
  7. 4Cyte will SMS the patient with the Covid results.  Positive PCR test results for other respiratory viruses or bacteria are not named.  A negative PCR result doesn’t mean the patient is infection free.  These swabs narrow down the possibilities and guide appropriate treatments.
  8. An appropriate appointment needs to be made for results in person, via video or via phone.  Normal fees applies for these consult.  Normal fees applies if the doctor calls the patient for further clinical advice and management.