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Infant developmental
milestones: a 31-year
follow-up
Anja Taanila* PhD, Professor, Department of Public Health
Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, Finland.
Graham K Murray MD MRCPsych, Clinical Lecturer,
Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK.
Jari Jokelainen, Statistician, Unit of General Practice,
University Hospital of Oulu;
Matti Isohanni PhD MD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry,
University of Oulu;
Paula Rantakallio PhD MD, Emeritus Professor, Department
of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of
Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
*Correspondence to first author at University of Oulu,
Department of Public Health Science and General Practice,
PO Box 5000, 90014 Oulu, Finland.
E-mail: anja.taanila@oulu.fi
This study examined the association between infant
developmental milestones and educational level at 31 years of
age in the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (n=12 058).
Developmental data (age at standing, walking, speaking, and
measures of bowel and bladder control) were gathered from
children’s welfare centres. Information on type of schooling
at 14 years of age was reported by children and parents.
School achievement at 16 years of age and educational level at
31 years were obtained from national registers. Those who
reached infant developmental milestones sooner in their first
year of life had significantly better (p<0.05) mean scores in
teacher ratings at 16 years, and at 31 years they were more
likely to have achieved a better educational level than slower
developers. The adjusted odds ratios for individuals who
developed more slowly to remain at a basic educational level
(7 to 16y) ranged significantly from 1.1 to 1.3. The possibility
of advancing from secondary to tertiary level was 1.4 times
greater in faster developers than in slow developers. In
conclusion, those who develop faster during their first year of
life tend to attain higher levels of education in adolescence
and adulthood.
Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 2005, 47: 581–586 581
Acquisition of motor skills has numerous implications for
other aspects of development. The ability to respond to the
environment appears to have an impact on all aspects of devel-
opment, and each new accomplishment brings with it an
increasing degree of independence. These changes affect emo-
tional and social development, communication, and the
understanding of distance and space. During the first months
of life, development is very fast. By the end of infancy, at about
18 months, most children can walk, run, climb, communicate
in speech and gestures, and use two hands in complex coordi-
nated actions (Goldfield and Wolff 2002). Psychomotor devel-
opment of children during the first year of life has been studied
in many countries and ethnic groups (Hindley 1968, Touwen
1976, von Wendt et al. 1984). Previous research has concentrat-
ed on individuals with developmental delays (e.g. von Wendt et
al. 1984, Tenovuo et al. 1988, Larroque et al. 2001, Hollo et al.
2002, Yliherva 2002), but studies of the long-term sequelae of
subtle developmental differences within the so-called ‘normal’
range have received comparatively little attention.
Werner et al. (1968) found that those who developed faster
during their first year of life had a higher educational capacity
than those who did not. Rantakallio et al. (1985) found simi-
lar associations when children in the Northern Finland 1966
Birth Cohort were 14 years old. Members of the Northern
Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (Rantakallio 1969, 1988) are now
over 30 years of age. This large study population provides a
good opportunity to investigate early developmental mile-
stones in relation to later educational performance. The pre-
sent study aimed to examine whether age at achievement of
developmental milestones assessed at 1 year (standing and
walking without support, speaking, and continence) were
associated with educational level in adolescence and early
adulthood.
Method
Data were collected from the ethnically homogeneous popula-
tion of northern Finland (the provinces of Oulu and Lapland;
Rantakallio 1969, Hovatta et al. 1999) and included all women
(n=12 068) with an expected date of delivery in 1966 as well as
their live born children (n=12 058). The study covered 96% of
all births in the region in that year (Rantakallio 1988). Life expe-
riences, development, health, and education of these children
were followed up from gestation through to birth and at the
ages of 1, 14, and 31 years. The 31-year follow-up study was
conducted between 1997 and 1998. Those cohort members
who were known to be living in Finland (n=10 631) participat-
ed in the study. Cohort members gave written consent for ear-
lier and current data to be used. Permission for gathering
register data was obtained from the Finnish Ministry of Social
Welfare and Health Affairs in 1993.
DEVELOPMENTAL DATA AT 1 YEAR OF AGE
Developmental data in infancy were gathered from children’s
welfare centres (children visited the centres 10 times on aver-
age, during their first year). Data were supplemented with
information obtained in a special examination performed by
public health nurses for research purposes. At 1 year of age,
98.4% (n=11 870) of the children were alive. Developmental
information was obtained for 91% of the children, which was
collected at an age of at least 11.5 months in 95% of cases.
When calculating cumulative indices for passing developmen-
tal levels at age 11 or 12 months, those children whose health

records had been filled in before this age and who had not
reached the actual level of development by the age of com-
pleting the health records, were assumed to develop similar-
ly to those who had been observed until the age of 12 months
(von Wendt et al. 1984, Isohanni et al. 2001).
The following developmental milestones were studied at
the 1-year examination. (1) Age at standing and walking with-
out support: parents were asked the age (in months) at
which the child acquired these skills. The following cate-
gories were used for analyses: standing (before nine, at 10, at
11, over 12mo) and walking (before 10, at 11, over 12mo).
(2) Speaking: parents were asked how many words the child
spoke at 1 year of age: no words, one to two words, three or
more words. (3) Potty training (bowel control): parents were
asked whether the child defecated into a potty (mostly or
always, sometimes, never). (4) Day/night-time wetting (blad-
der control): parents were asked whether the child was mostly
dry, always dry, or wet every day/night. The variable was dichot-
omized: sometimes dry versus always wet.
SCHOOL PERFORMANCE IN ADOLESCENCE
In 1980, when the children were 14 years of age, data on cog-
nitive and physical development, as well as school perfor-
mance, were gathered using a questionnaire completed by
the children and their parents. The response rate was 97%.
In the remaining cases, data were completed by interviewing
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school health nurses and school social workers so that the
final response rate was 97.6%. All the available information (IQ
scores, records from child guidance centres, hospitals, and
institutions for children with learning disabilities*) was used to
calculate the number of children with learning disability
(n=140) and below average intelligence (n=161). Information
was obtained from all but 14 children who had emigrated. Of
the whole cohort (n=11 766), 94% of the children (n=11 064)
attended school at a level appropriate for their age (normal
class or above) and 3.8% (n=449) attended a class below their
age-appropriate level. A total of 2.2% (n=253) of the children
had been exempted from compulsory education or they
attended a school for children with learning disabilities, motor
disabilities, hearing deficits, or behavioural problems (Ranta-
kallio and von Wendt 1986).
Information on children’s school marks (teacher ratings)
was obtained from the national application register for upper
secondary education, including vocational schools and upper
secondary schools, until 16 years of age. Compulsory schooling
in Finland ends when children are 16 years old and after that
all adolescents are advised to apply to enter upper secondary
education. All applications and preferences for upper secondary
education are stored in the national register, including data
on school marks as well as mean scores of those school marks.
These data were extracted until 1985 (Isohanni 2000).
*US usage: mental retardation.

Table I: Number (%) of cohort members in different milestone variables at 1 year of age stratified by type of school at 14 years of
age in Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (Rantakallio and von Wendt 1986)

Developmental milestones School type at 14 years of age

Exempted from compulsory Training Special Normal Normal Normal
education due classb classc class, below class class, above
to severe n (%) n (%) appropriate n (%) appropriate
disabilitya age level age level
n (%) n (%) n (%)

Age at standing without support (mo)

≤9 – 9 (0.42) 1 (0.05) 55 (2.54) 2055 (95.0) 43 (1.99)
10 3 (0.13) 16 (0.68) 5 (0.21) 73 (3.12) 2215 (94.6) 30 (1.28)
11 4 (0.15) 25 (0.93) 4 (0.15) 89 (3.32) 2523 (94.2) 34 (1.27)
≥12 65 (2.01) 67 (2.07) 17 (0.53) 154 (4.77) 2902 (89.8) 25 (0.77)
Age at walking without support (mo)
≤10 1 (0.05) 6 (0.29) 1 (0.05) 52 (2.55) 1941 (95.3) 36 (1.77)
11 1 (0.04) 16 (0.64) 4 (0.16) 75 (2.99) 2365 (94.4) 45 (1.80)
≥12 69 (1.18) 96 (1.64) 22 (0.38) 246 (4.20) 5367 (91.7) 52 (0.89)
Speaking at 1 year of age
3 or more words 13 (0.22) 46 (0.79) 12 (0.21) 191 (3.29) 5462 (93.9) 90 (1.55)
1–2 words 13 (0.58) 20 (0.89) 2 (0.09) 79 (3.50) 2117 (93.9) 23 (1.02)
No words 45 (1.87) 52 (2.16) 13 (0.54) 102 (4.24) 2175 (90.4) 20 (0.83)
Defecated in a potty
Mostly or always 13 (0.33) 24 (0.61) 8 (0.20) 111 (2.83) 3712 (94.5) 58 (1.48)
Sometimes 13 (0.39) 31 (0.92) 10 (0.30) 126 (3.74) 3145 (93.4) 44 (1.31)
Never 44 (1.39) 63 (1.98) 9 (0.28) 128 (4.03) 2899 (91.3) 33 (1.04)
Daytime wetting
Sometimes dry 7 (0.36) 14 (0.72) 1 (0.05) 55 (2.81) 1847 (94.4) 33 (1.69)
Always wet 63 (0.74) 105 (1.23) 26 (0.30) 311 (3.65) 7925 (92.9) 101 (1.18)
Night-time wetting
Sometimes dry 14 (0.36) 38 (0.97) 9 (0.23) 132 (3.38) 3667 (93.8) 50 (1.28)
Always wet 56 (0.85) 80 (1.22) 18 (0.27) 235 (3.59) 6079 (92.8) 83 (1.27)
aClass for children with severe learning disability; bclass for children with moderate and mild learning disability;cclass for children with motor

or hearing impairments or behavioural problems. Total number of participants varies because data were missing for some variables. p<0.05 for
all variables was considered significant.

582 Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 2005, 47: 581–586


HIGHEST EDUCATION LEVEL AT AGE 31 YEARS
Data were gathered from the National Educational Register
of Statistics on the highest completed education level of
cohort members in 1997 at the age of 31 years. The classifica-
tion of education (basic, secondary, tertiary) describes the
system of regular school and university education which is
usually pursued on a full-time basis and with a view to attain-
ing a certificate, diploma, degree, or qualification for an occu-
pation. The classification principle is essentially consistent
with the Unesco International Standard of Classification of
Education (ISCED 199, Isohanni 2000).
STATISTICAL METHODS
All available information from each milestone variable was
used in the statistical analysis. The total numbers of cohort
members varies, because data were missing for some vari-
ables. Mean values and standard deviations for total scores of
all school subjects were calculated for each variable category,
stratified by sex. Statistical comparison of the means of the
total school scores of all school subjects was made by analysis
of variance (ANOVA), adjusted for month of birth, gestational
age, birthweight, sex, mother’s marital status, and father’s
social class. Levene’s test was used to test for equality of vari-
ance. χ2 was used for categorical variables. The continuation
ratio model of a polytomous logistic regression was applied
(Agresti 1990). This method partitions the analysis of the
original outcome variable (educational level) into two differ-
ent logit models (logistic regression): basic education versus
other education, and secondary versus tertiary education.
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The model was adjusted for gestational age, birthweight, sex,
mother’s marital status, and father’s social class. Social class
was recorded and assessed in 1966 by father’s occupation
and prestige (Mäkikyrö 1998). Analyses were performed
using SAS statistical software (version 8.0). Statistical signifi-
cance was set at p<0.05.
Results
MILESTONE VARIABLES AND SCHOOLING AT 14 YEARS OF AGE
At 1 year of age psychomotor development (age of standing
and walking without support, speaking, defecating in a potty,
day/night-time wetting) of the children who at the age of 14
years attended a school for children with learning disabili-
ties, a special school, or a normal school in a class below
their appropriate age, was more likely to be slower than in
those attending a normal school in a class at or above their
appropriate age level (Table I). Most children who were able to
stand at 9 months of age, walk without support by 10 months
of age, or speak two or more words at 1 year were, at least, in
an age-appropriate class at 14 years of age. Females scored
higher than males in all developmental milestones assessed
in the present study (not shown in Table I).
Table II shows that mean scores at 16 years of age for females
were significantly associated with developmental measures
across all domains of development, but for males the associa-
tion was significant only with the milestones of standing and
walking without support, bowel control, and daytime wetting.
However, in the model which contains all covariates, the total
contribution to overall variance of school marks varied for

Table II: Mean (SD) scores of all school subjects by milestone variables of all participants attending normal school (class below,
normal class, and class above) of Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort

Developmental milestones Mean scoresa for all children at 16 years of age Analysis of varianceb
Males Females All Males Females Allc
Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Mean (SD) F(df1,df2), p value F(df1,df2), p value F(df1,df2), p value

Age at standing without support (mo)

≤9 7.57 (0.95) 8.22 (0.88) 7.91 (0.97) 3.7(3,4602), 0.011 7.5(3,4552), <0.001 8.4(3,9174), <0.001
10 7.48 (0.96) 8.23 (0.89) 7.85 (1.00)
11 7.46 (0.98) 8.15 (0.92) 7.81 (1.01)
≥12 7.48 (0.98) 8.07 (0.92) 7.77 (1.00)
Age of walking without support (mo)
≤10 7.57 (0.93) 8.21 (0.90) 7.90 (0.97) 5.1(2,4596), 0.006 7.8(2,4537), <0.001 11.0(2,9152), <0.001
11 7.49 (0.97) 8.23 (0.87) 7.86 (0.99)
≥12 7.47 (0.98) 8.11 (0.92) 7.79 (1.00)
Speaking at 1 year of age
3 or more words 7.51 (0.97) 8.19 (0.92) 7.88 (1.00) 0.7(2,4648), 0.522 6.0(2,4589), 0.003 5.0(2,9254), 0.007
1–2 words 7.50 (0.96) 8.12 (0.89) 7.81 (0.98)
No words 7.45 (0.97) 8.09 (0.88) 7.72 (0.98)
Defecated in a potty at 1 year of age
Mostly or always 7.57 (1.00) 8.22 (0.91) 7.94 (1.00) 10.3(2,4646), <0.001 16.8(2,4588), < 0.001 24.6(2,9253), <0.001
Sometimes 7.42 (0.96) 8.14 (0.92) 7.76 (1.00)
Never 7.37 (0.97) 8.00 (0.90) 7.65 (0.99)
Daytime wetting at 1 year of age
Sometimes dry 7.57 (0.99) 8.22 (0.88) 7.96 (0.98) 7.9(1,4659), 0.005 8.3(1,4592), 0.004 15.7(1,9269), <0.001
Always wet 7.44 (0.97) 8.11 (0.92) 7.75 (1.01)
Night-time wetting at 1 year of age
Sometimes dry 7.47 (0.98) 8.17 (0.92) 7.85 (1.00) 0.6(1,4645), 0.434 6.2(1,4580), 0.013 5.5(1,9243), 0.019
Always wet 7.45 (0.98) 8.11 (0.91) 7.76 (1.01)
aIn Finland, school marks range from 4 to 10, defined as: 4, rejected; 5–6, poor; 7–8, satisfactory; 9–10, excellent. bAdjusted for month of birth,

gestational age, birthweight, mother’s marital status, and father’s social class in 1966. cAdjusted as for ‘b’ and for sex.

Developmental Milestones and Educational Attainment Anja Taanila et al. 583


different milestones, from 6% to 6.5% among males and from
5.6% to 6.2% in females (not shown in Table II).
EDUCATIONAL LEVEL AT 31 YEARS OF AGE
The trends seen at ages 14 and 16 years were strengthened at the
31 year follow-up (Table III). Of those who had been able to
stand or walk by 1 year of age, or could speak three or more
words, or had attained continence, two-thirds had achieved
a secondary level education and over a quarter attained ter-
tiary level education at 31 years of age. There was a statistically
significant probability (p<0.05) of remaining at a basic level of
education for those who could not stand without support at
9 months and had never defecated in a potty by the age of 12
months. The possibilities for the slower developers to advance
from secondary to tertiary level education were nearly 12 times
less than faster developers (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.26–1.62).
Discussion
Faster infant development was associated with better educa-
tional outcomes in adolescence and adulthood in this large
population sample, although speed of development only
accounted for a modest percentage of the variance in out-
come. This finding is not simply because individuals with
developmental delay have poorer educational outcomes, as
the associations between developmental milestones and later
outcomes held true across the ‘normal’ range of develop-
ment. Although the final fully-adjusted model accounted for
only a small percentage of variance in school marks (7% for
males, 6% for females), it was found that the difference
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between milestones variables contributed significantly to
overall variance in school marks (Table II). In other words, the
earlier the development in infancy, the better the educational
outcome in adolescence and adulthood. This result is also sup-
ported by Werner et al. (1968) and Rantakallio et al. (1985).
The research showed that in some domains of develop-
ment, such as standing without support and language (Table
III), cohort members with three or more words at 1 year of
age fared better in adulthood than cohort members with one
or two words. Cohort members with no words had the poor-
est outcomes. Similarly, those who were able to stand after 1
year of age had a 1.3-fold statistically significant probability
of remaining at basic educational level in adulthood. Those
who had never defecated in a potty by the age of 1 year had a
1.2 times statistically significant risk of remaining at the basic
level of education and were less likely to progress to tertiary
level education compared with those who had done so by 1
year of age.
The influence of fast infant development was maintained
after adjusting for factors that have previously been indicated
to have an effect on infant psychomotor development and on
later educational achievements (gestational age, birthweight,
sex, mothers’ marital status, and fathers’ social class). Rant-
akallio and von Wendt (1985), for instance, indicated that 6% of
children in the total series had educational problems and,
among them, children with low birthweight were over-repre-
sented. In the study by Hille et al. (1994), 19% of children
with very low birthweight or gestational age less than 32
weeks were in special education at 9 years of age. According

Table III: Number (%) of cohort members in different milestone variables at 1 year of age stratified by attained educational level
at 31 years of age and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) in Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort

Developmental milestones Educational level at 31 years of age Basic Secondary

Basic Secondary Tertiary (vs secondary and (vs tertiary
education education education tertiary education) education)
n (%) n (%) n (%) OR (95% CI)a OR (95% CI)a

Age of standing without support (mo)

≤9 213 (10.9) 1211 (62.0) 530 (27.1)
10 268 (12.6) 1287 (60.4) 577 (27.1) 1.18 (0.97–1.44) 1.00 (0.86–1.15)
11 309 (12.6) 1485 (60.5) 660 (26.9) 1.17 (0.96–1.41) 0.98 (0.85–1.13)
≥12 400 (13.6) 1863 (63.5) 671 (22.9) 1.25 (1.04–1.50) 1.20 (1.05–1.38)
Age of walking without support (mo)
≤10 223 (12.1) 1119 (60.8) 499 (27.1)
11 264 (11.5) 1408 (61.3) 625 (27.2) 0.93 (0.76–1.13) 1.01 (0.87–1.17)
≥12 702 (13.2) 3302 (62.2) 1305 (24.6) 1.07 (0.90–1.26) 1.10 (0.97–1.25)
Speaking at 1 year of age
3 or more words 627 (11.8) 3265 (61.5) 1419 (26.7)
1–2 words 275 (13.4) 1264 (61.4) 518 (25.2) 1.10 (0.94–1.29) 1.05 (0.93–1.19)
No words 295 (13.5) 1361 (62.4) 524 (24.0) 1.06 (0.91–1.24) 1.11 (0.98–1.25)
Defecated in a potty at 1 year of age
Mostly or always 407 (11.3) 2122 (59.2) 1057 (29.5)
Sometimes 351 (11.4) 1909 (62.2) 809 (26.4) 0.93 (0.80–1.09) 1.13 (1.01–1.26)
Never 442 (15.3) 1852 (64.1) 597 (20.7) 1.23 (1.06–1.43) 1.42 (1.26–1.62)
Daytime wetting at 1 year of age
Sometimes dry 195 (10.9) 1077 (60.4) 512 (28.7)
Always wet 1003 (12.9) 4819 (62.0) 1955 (25.1) 1.06 (0.90–1.26) 1.13 (1.00–1.28)
Night-time wetting at the age of 1 year
Sometimes dry 430 (12.0) 2206 (61.7) 938 (26.2)
Always wet 768 (12.9) 3671 (61.6) 1523 (25.5) 1.02 (0.90–1.16) 1.04 (0.94–1.15)
aAdjusted for gestational age, birthweight, sex, mothers’ marital status, and fathers’ social class in 1966. Reference value odds ratio (OR)=1.0.

584 Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 2005, 47: 581–586


to the study by Hollo et al. (2002), 25% of children who were
small for gestational age were less successful at school com-
pared with 14% of children who were an appropriate size for
gestational age when followed up at 10 years of age. Cui et al.
(2001) suggested that parents’ knowledge of caring for
infants and higher educational level were beneficial to the
development of infants. Many other studies have shown the
effects of sex, mothers’ marital status, and fathers’ social class
on children’s development and educational achievements
(e.g. Astone and McLanahan 1994, Jonsson and Gahler 1997,
Riala et al. 2003).
This study has a number of strengths due to its population-
based and longitudinal design. Previous studies of the sequelae
of variations in development have tended to be drawn from
specific populations such as groups with low birthweight, low
IQ, or physical disabilities (Tenovuo et al. 1988, Larroque et al.
2001, Hollo et al. 2002, Yliherva 2002), whereas the current
sample is drawn from the general population. Being drawn
from northern Finland, the sample shows ethnic homogeneity
(Rantakallio 1969, Hovatta et al. 1999) and socioeconomic
homogeneity due to the more egalitarian Finnish class struc-
ture. In Finland the educational system at basic, secondary, and
tertiary levels is uniform throughout the country and is almost
entirely financed from public funds, suggesting that there is
equal access to education. The reliability of this research is also
confirmed by the developmental data which were gathered
from children’s welfare centres and supplemented with infor-
mation obtained in special examinations performed by public
health nurses, thereby reducing recall bias. Only the mile-
stones of speaking and bowel and bladder control were report-
ed by mothers. It is accepted practice in Finland to teach a child
to sit on a potty at 1 year of age. In 1967, when these children
were 1 year of age, if the mothers reported that the child had sat
on a potty the report was considered to be reliable. Moreover,
previous studies of the same sample using the same develop-
mental measures to investigate neurodevelopmental seque-
lae of infant development (e.g. Von Wendt et al. 1984, Isohanni
et al. 2001, 2004) have been extremely consistent with results
from other longitudinal birth cohorts, providing increased
face validity for the developmental measures used (Jones et
al. 1994, Cannon et al. 2002).
There are few, if any, previous population-based studies
that have addressed the links between developmental mile-
stones and adult educational outcomes. Previous authors
have speculated that variations in development within the
so-called ‘normal’ range have little or no consequence as
regards adult outcomes in terms of intellectual performance
(e.g. Eliot 2001). Although in the present study adult intel-
lectual performance was not directly measured, previous
research indicates that educational attainment is correlated
with adult IQ, with a correlation coefficient of approximately
0.6 (Mackintosh 1998). Our findings suggest that there is an
association between developmental milestones and adult
intellectual capacity, and it may be that the speed of attaining
developmental milestones reflects some underlying advan-
tageous biological factors (e.g. efficiencies in certain neural
systems) that also confer benefits on intellectual or educa-
tional performance.
Conclusion
To conclude, our research has shown that faster infant
development is related to better educational outcomes in
Developmental Milestones and Educational Attainment Anja Taanila et al.
14698749, 2005, 9, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2005.tb01207.x, Wiley Online Library on [02/02/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
adolescence and adulthood. Although individuals’ subtle varia-
tions in speed of development are not influential enough to
predict later educational outcomes, at the population level
these factors may assume much greater importance. Those
who develop faster during their first year of life have an incr-
eased chance of attaining higher education in adulthood and
higher educational attainment is linked with better health out-
comes. In addition, even though most children who are mildly
delayed in developmental milestones will function normally in
their adult life, this research raises the question of whether
interventions in infancy that result in faster attainment of neu-
rodevelopmental milestones may also lead to long-lasting
educational and other benefits later in life.
DOI: 10.1017/S0012162205001155
Accepted for publication 15th September 2004.
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DAT
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This is THE meeting to attend if you see
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Developmental Medicine No 58. London: Spastics International whether you are an orthopedic surgeon,
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von Wendt L, Mäkinen H, Rantakallio P. (1984) Psychomotor Quotes from previous meetings’ attendees:
development in the first year and mental retardation – a
prospective study. J Ment Defic Res 28: 219–225. “Excellent. All presentations well done.
Yliherva A. (2002) Ennenaikaisina ja pienipainoisina syntyneiden Truly motivating and thought-provoking.”
lasten puheen- ja kielenkehityksen taso kahdeksan vuoden iässä. “Very nice, large osteoprospective controlled
Pohjois-Suomen syntymäkohortti 1985–86. (Speech and language
agilities of preterm and low birthweight children at 8 years of age study. This Academy has certainly grown in its
in the northern Finland 1-year birth cohort for 1985–86). scientific sophistication….”
Department of Finnish, Saami and Logopedics and Department
of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of
“Very well done! Nice synopsis and
Oulu. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis B 44. (Conclusion in Finnish, all presenters had different styles of
articles in English.) presenting in a very effective manner.”
“Course was so educative. This course has
equipped me with new knowledge….”

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