Doing good as the motto !

 

The flowers in our garden look different since the monsoon rain subdue their colour, vigour and odour! The usual fullness and fragrance are missing!

This season was to be a celebration time for students waiting to begin their academic year in schools and colleges in India. 

However, the students waiting for their medical college admissions got disappointed as the National Entrance and Eligibility Test for which they appeared was cancelled due to leakage of the test paper. Now they await for the next test and the academic year for them would begin two or three months later. 

Every year in the recent years, there was a strong suspicion of some disorder in connection with the organisation of the entrance test for medical admission. 

This brings back a debate that some teachers in medical colleges raised when the national entrance test was imposed. The concern was the transparency and integrity of the system in setting the examination paper and valuing them, more so, the valuing was to be done digitally with hundreds of supervisors involved in this process !

Now that suspicion is upheld with the government cancelling the examination and ordering for another entrance test! The corrupt practices of leaking the examination paper to gain financially is now under investigation. 

The beautiful flowers in the garden get dampened by incessant rain. 

The moral decline in value system and the indulgence in practices to gain financially impair the ethical standards needed in such situations. 

This is the down side of life style changes in the society where success is attributed to being wealthy. The wealth acquisition becomes a greed and people succumb to this violating all moral precepts. 

The escalating war in West Asia, caused by irresponsible acts of the USA, Israel and Iran spring from such a moral distortion. For each of the three nations, personal gain alone matters. The global value system of equity and equal opportunities for all got subsumed by the desire to control, dominate and gain financially. 

I met a couple last week end, both retired professors from the Christian Medical College, Vellore, who inspite of their physical limitations reach out to others to support them in times of need.  Their gentle message was 'Do good all the time and that becomes a leaven to influence people and behaviour'!

When the collective system fails or succumbs to existential pressures, the moral fortitude of some can become a lamp in darkness. 

I feel disturbed by the way a nation like the USA, who has 'In God we Trust' inscribed in their bills, turning to an orientation 'In wealth we trust' initiated by its current president. 

The Benedictine monks in the late 8th century who sponsored the rescue mission in the Alpine mountains to save those who were crossing the  mountain ranges when caught in a snow storm, comes back to me. They established network of mountain monasteries, valley hospices, medical dispensaries, supply depots for travellers and took care of pilgrims. The rail and road connection between Locarno and Zurich developed inspired by this noble service. The saint Bernard rescue dogs were used probably from 1050 initiated by St Bernard OF Menthon, an Augustanian canon. The Gotthard Museum located in an old road house of 1834, brings together the stories and recollections of acts of service done to rescue people from an impending calamity. 

I feel enthused by a verse in the New Testament of the Bible in the book of Galatians 6:9, ' Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up'! 

This calls for hope and doing good with liberality and goodwill! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

our garden 

The communicative presence !

I watched a single Bulbul, who was alone in the nutmeg tree in our garden, which was joined by another Bulbul and how they exchanged bird calls on a cloudy morning !

Each became present to the other! 

Becoming present in a communicative way in a conversation, is a transformative experience bringing a level of trust and nearness. 

I realise from conversations in the recent months that those with whom I was in touch were looking for sharing experiences and thoughts to receive resonances of cheer and affirmation. 

The two Bulbuls seemed to connect with each other emotionally! 

It is this which calls for attention! I felt inclined to audit how much I feel for people with whom I am in touch. Am I in touch with people for what I might need from them or am I in touch with some people for what I can offer by way of conversation, support, affirmation and encouragement. 

The way to stay in touch with people ought to transcend a utilitarian purpose! Each of us can stay in touch with some for their sake or for supporting their needs and stay near to make them feel supported!  

When a relationship has a self-giving dimension, it enables others to feel valued and appreciated! 

The communicative presence is such a way of carrying others in our thoughts and heart !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A joint experience !

This sequence of a toddler  attempting to crawl, assisted by his mother is an evidence of perseverance on the part of the child and mother! 

When the usual child development sequence is impaired, such a perseverant effort alone can make the child move forward developmentally. 

It was a moving and awakening experience to watch this joint effort of the child and mother giving a new experience for the child. 

This is an act of nurturing the initiative of a child by patient and thoughtful support! 

What was central to this effort was the gentle touch the mother offered with words of appreciation and encouragement! The self-giving mother and a responsive child in collaboration! 

The only thing we added by a word of support to the mother was to offer him a toy in the front, to have his focus on reaching the toy which becomes a motivation to move. In fact the concentration shifts from movement to playing by reaching out for the toy!

The way the mother responded enthusiastically to that suggestion indicated that the mother and child are soon going to be fulfilled by their joint efforts. 

The parenting experience is therefore a joint experience- parents and the child make a partnership for mutual encouragement!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Parents showed the way!

In the early years of my involvement in child development, I was not sensitive about the physical ambience to be made child friendly when we invite children and families for consultation. A child needs that provision for his or her attention to be drawn by sounds, sights and movements. 

A toy shelf was added to the room which made a signifiant difference in observing the cognitive, behavioural and communication levels of children. 

I recall how a child friendly ambience provided information about children beyond what parents could describe. 

From this stage,  we moved on by requesting parents to upload short videos of children taken during solitary and group play, when they request for a consultation, which helped us to prepare ourselves to be ready to make further observations by providing an environment in the consultation room, which would make the child explore and interact. 

It was from this experience, we turned to video consultation for parents who had difficulties to travel. We uploaded video tutorials for parents to take the anthropometry and screen for vision, hearing and language ability. We used protocols to get information on sleep, diet and play. 

When I retired three years ago, this form of video based consultations were available for parents located in other countries, provided they came at least once for a physical consultation. 

Let me confess, it look a while to move to this path and provide a support system for parents that was easier for them to respond to!

I have conversations with Paediatricians on the video platform now, which has evolved into a dependable communication portal for discussion on child development and rehabilitation!

Let me confess, that parents had to persuade me to shift from insisting on physical consultation to video-based conversations as much as possible. Thank you parents. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

Given and carried forward!

This logo above designed in 1997, when ASHIRVAD, an  Initiative for child development and integrated living, was offered to partner with CMC Vellore to start the Developmental Paediatrics Unit at CMC,  the first of its nature in any medical college in India. That was the beginning of the speciality of Developmental Paediatrics in India. This logo inspired us because of the call it communicated to 'build to belong'. The Developmental Paediatrics Unit initiated its professional training programme in 2005. 

It will be thirty years next year since starting the Unit. 

Of all the things of significance since then, one recollection that brings a sense of fulfillments is the way a collaborative spirit emerged where parents, children and professionals became the building partners to belong to a common purpose. 

Fostering child development was that common purpose. The parents of children initiated the process; children became the focus of attention and professionals became the path finders. Thus this process became a joint building mission. 

Each child and his or her parents presented a situation that was exclusive to their situation of need. It is this experience of listening and discerning that provided to initiate the building process. 

One child we welcomed at 2 years at the Child Development Centre, Chennai is in her early forties living well inspite of few health related needs. Her parents are her unwavering supporters. They in their sixties  have their health constraints. The messages we receive from them tell us a lot about the effects of a partnership that emerged out of the vision to 'build to belong'! 

As Anna and I look back, what moves us is an outcome, larger than our dream! 

Jesus of Nazareth used five loaves and two fish, given to Him by a boy, to multiply to feed five thousand people, as recorded in the gospel of John in the new testament of the Bible (John 6:1-14).

Such surprising experiences do happen in the lives of all of us. What we witness now from the partnership ASHIRVAD had with CMC Vellore in 1997 to initiate the Developmental Paediatrics is such a surprise. There are about thirty Developmental Paediatrics Units in India which came into being since them, which train professionals in child development. 

The logo 'Build to Belong' was a vision given to us, which continues to unfold! 

We stay surprised and grateful!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

Essential for an adult but not necessary for pre-schoolers

When a mobile phone becomes a toy or a pacifier to an infant, I guess it is an undesirable start for that infant! And yet it is commonly used to occupy an infant ! Having been given the phone the infant gets used to cry till he or she is given the mobile phone. A pattern which would have an inhibiting influence on the child to engage in toys for social or interactive play! The communication intent and language acquisition process might get stalled by this habit! 

During a conversation with a family I discovered that the parents use the mobile phone to occupy the child as it frees them to attend to their domestic chores. Thus the interactive and social time with the infant get reduced. For some infants and toddlers, the loss of social interaction with parents is a disadvantage leading to delay in developing social and communication skills. 

As we moved into using smart phones as against a mobile phone of the first or second generations, the phone is a mini computer where gaming,  viewing cartoons or surfing are easily possible. I saw a mother turning to her three year old son to down load a programme to watch, which showed how versatile that child was in the use of a smart phone. I do not come across the parents using the 'child lock' facility to protect the toddlers and pre-schoolers drifting into viewing what is not healthy for them. 

The discipline of using the mobile phone includes designing a protocol of practice that infants,  toddlers and pre-schoolers ought to follow! 

I feel disturbed when the smart phone is a more common toy than other toys for an infant or toddler! It is an indication of a poorly structured parenting practice !

I have in my conversations with parents suggested that they have a charting of the time they and their children spend watching any programme on the phone or TV. Some families who did that for about six weeks were conscious to monitor their habit to make it reasonable and create social interactive times with their toddlers and pre-school children! 

I want to suggest that while mobile phone is an essential part of an adults life, it is not a necessary part of children till they are six yers of age or above that!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

From the body to integrating body and mind !

I took time during this week to revisit photographs of children, whose walking efforts were captured to study the dynamic and static functions while attempting to walk. I recall how this child when shown the bulletin board with photographs in the corner of the room showed an interest to move steadily, which reduced the muscle spasm that seemed to inhibit him initially! It was the sight of the bulletin board with photos that made a difference in his movement stride. That visual stimulus gave him motivation to move because of an interest to explore what was on the bulletin board. 

It was after watching some children in similar situations, the approach shifted from 'making a child to walk' to  'allowing a child to pursue visual or auditory cues' to facilitate movement. The effort to make a child walk might not get a child's full attention or interest. Instead if he or she has something interesting ahead to explore a few steps ahead, the movement gets initiated in the child's conscious thinking, in which case the motor synchronisation of movements takes place volitionally, which is more physiological. 

I recall the philosophy of conductive education which was a popular model introduced by Dr Andras Peto in the 1940's, designed to help children and adults with neurological disorders to learn independent daily living skills through 'active learning'. A visit to one of the centres in London in 1986 left a lasting impression in my mind. The 'conductor' who is a facilitator co-ordinated a small group of children or adults to participate in activities of daily living in  a setting where modified furniture and devices are used. It was a self motivated  learning process to adapt and learn newer ways to overcome limitations to  function in a way that was practical for each child. 

Another form of movement practice that Anna and I came across was 'Awareness through movement' introduced by Dr Moshe Feldenkrais, a Ukranian-Israeli engineer who focussed on 'learning how to learn' by overriding habitual and inefficient movement patterns. He suggested that by moving each part of the body with awareness and feeling the comfort and wellness,  the movements bring integration between the mind and the body. When body is moved in a slow manner by turning the attention of the mind to the movement, the new learning is initiated. This remains as a popular exercise regimen in neuro-rehabilitation as well as in improving co-ordinated body movements to bring relaxation to the body. 

One turning point in my consciousness was this new awareness in the early nineties, when the attention shifted to integrating the mind and body in helping  children to move. It is the attraction of a play activity, a visual, auditory, sensory or kinaesthetic experience awaiting the child, which invites a child to move. 

Looking back over the last forty years of involvement in child development and rehabilitation, I realise how such an approach yielded good results and found acceptance with parents. The recent book, published by ASHIRVAD,  Engage your child summarised our experiences on exploring play as a process to help a developmentally challenged child at home by parental initiatives. 

When a child voluntarily moves and finds that as fulfilling, he or she is in a new level of self directed learning, which is what we ought to aim for all children, who need enablement developmentally!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)