Entry & development
- Birth / feeding
- Genetics
- Development / language
What was present from the beginning, what was acquired, and what changed later?
NATURAL HISTORY & STATE TRANSITIONS
Lifespan & clinical areas
Keep all 15 clinical areas visible and separate current age from onset, measurement, intervention, and follow-up age.
FIFTEEN CLINICAL AREAS
Every change keeps all 15 clinical areas visible.
The 15 areas help prevent one specialty from absorbing the whole event.
Brain, sleep & regulation
- Seizure / EEG / spells
- Sleep / state / fatigue
- Behavior / sensory
Was the change electrical, arousal-related, physiologic, psychiatric, sensory, or still unresolved?
Nutrition & body-system interfaces
- Oral / dental / chewing
- GI / fuel / bowel
- ENT / hearing / airway
Did mechanics, airway, pain, motility, hydration, fasting, or low intake change what the person could do?
Body systems
- Motor / tone / gait / vision
- Immune / skin / mucosal
- Autonomic / cardiac / urinary / temperature
- Growth / endocrine / puberty / bone
Which organ-level measurement changed, and which reassuring or unchanged findings remain relevant?
Treatment & participation
- Medication / anesthesia
- Function / school / adult
What changed after support or exposure, and did participation recover with the same underlying ability?
LIFESPAN WINDOWS
Current age is not age of onset.
Current-age groups show who is represented now; they cannot establish progression. Preserve age at onset, age at measurement, duration, and follow-up separately.
Early life
Feeding mechanics, tone, sleep, early events, growth entry, and the distinction between congenital pattern and later change.
Childhood
Skill acquisition, communication access, school participation, seizure or spell classification, sleep, pain, bowel state, and motor endurance.
Adolescence
Puberty, menstrual or hormonal context, sleep timing, bone loading, medication transitions, autonomy, and changing support demands.
Adulthood & transition
Adaptive function, communication access, living supports, work or community participation, adult medical burden, aging, and caregiver continuity.
A useful age timeline includes
Current age · age at first concern · age at onset · age at formal measurement · age at intervention · duration to recovery · age at latest follow-up.