Beyond logical reasoning!

A child short in stature with short neck has multiple developmental needs due to a dysmorphic syndrome.

During the visit of this family, I watched this child relate and communicate inspite of some limitations and constraints. 

There was a charm about this child because he smiled, seemed humorous and socially relating temperamentally to the different clinical examinations he was subjected to. 

Most children with a dysmorphic syndrome have a predictable growth and developmental trajectory. However the science of epi-genetics  has revised our thinking about the prospects of a child being able to overcome the projections we tend to make. The environment and home based learning initiatives seem to help a child to go beyond what might be the usual pattern in children who have a dysmorphic state or a syndrome.

Since we run a specialty clinic in the department once a month we have become even more aware of the opportunities we have to create for them a learning push in the domains they seem to have some potential. 

The story of the four people in the book fo Mark of the New Testament of the Bible,  bringing a paralysed person in a couch to Jesus of Nazareth through an opening in the roof, comes back to me often as I welcome such children. He was destined to remain paralysed normally. But the efforts of these four people made a difference. Jesus of Nazareth seeing their efforts, said to the man 'get up and walk'. That happened to the amazement of all in the room. 

In the drama of life, where children suffer silently and develop only in a limited way, what finally counts is the efforts. No situation is too hopeless to make an effort to esteem and affirm a child in his or her struggle to experience the opportunities in life and participate in the joys of life. 

I have sometimes experienced a weariness while making these efforts. When the circumstances in which we work become demanding and the infrastructure to offer the optimum support to children and families cannot be made available and professionals from different streams of discipline are not amiable, one can become weary!   

The logistics in a hospital setting is often tuned to offer treatment for those who can recover. What a Child Development Centre needs is an ambience of affirming efforts of parents and professionals to make a difference in the life of a child in his or her developmental journey.  The efforts become a means for whatever good can emerge later in the life of a child and his or her family.

A family who has a teenager and is now slipping in his behaviour and responses inspite of the best care and support the family offers, is now at a cross road as he is not able to be in a schooling environment from next academic year. As parents are struggling with this, the conversation again reinforced this need most parents have- goodwill and and earnest efforts to support them in their transitions.

I have watched hospitals feeling the pressure to survive commercially in a changing climate where the staff support consumes more than forty percent of the income generated in the hospitals. This is a dangerous trend, affecting the overall financial health of an organisation. In such a setting to remain compassionate and financially generous towards families who need concessional treatment is not seen to be feasible or logical!  

The child in the photo above can remain confined to the current state developmentally or make progress to move on. This is going to be dependent on the efforts we make as professionals. The hospital policy makers can assist by multiplying this effort through thier generosity of thought and affirming the attitude towards this service.    

What is more fulfilling in professional life than becoming 'incarnational' towards those those who cannot move on in life except by being helped!  

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)