After four years of efforts, the five publications that we envisioned to summarise the initiative on Child Development and Rehabilitation, are now available for circulation.
It is a set of five books covering:
Observing the child developmentally in the first three years by parent involvement home programme (Bud to Blossom);
Developmental monitoring of a child when there is developmental delay (Accompany your child);
A dialogue starter with parents on parenting practices of pre-school children (Parenting Presence);
A structured observation based developmental appraisal of a child with Neuro-developmental needs by using protocols that give scores to know the extent of the Ability, Boundaries and Concerns of a developmentally challenged child (Enable Your child); and
A manual for play-based learning engagement of pre-school children at home for parents and professionals (Engage Your Child).
There are three distinctive features to these books:
They are designed to be user friendly.
All the protocols and practices suggested arose from the experience of involvement with children at the Child Development Centre, Chennai and medical colleges at Vellore, Pondicherry and Kolenchery.
All the observational protocols can be scored to monitor the developmental pathway of a Neuro-developmentally challenged child in order to be prompt in responding to the need and opportunity.
With this, the academic experiences of 40 years of engagement of ASHIRVAD in Child Development and Rehabilitation are summarised in these five publications.
We feel fulfilled that the Developmental Paediatrics Units ASHIRVAD initiated at the Christian Medical College, Vellore; PIMS, Pondiochery and MOSCMC, Kolenchery continue their valuable service to developmentally challenged children and their parents. We feel grateful for the team of professionals in each of these Medical Colleges and the opportunity that was offered to ASHIRVAD to be involved.
The Bangalore Baptist Hospital where I was a regular visiting consultant for five years now has an active clinical service, which suggests that more hospitals will opt for child development service as about 15 to 20 percent of children have Neuro-developmental needs.
The model that has evolved from our experience during the forty years is, a Parent Involved and home based neuro-developmental monitoring and developmental support for children and accompaniment of parents and siblings.
I feel grateful to all the professional colleagues, who participated actively in evolving this pathway in child development.
When I turn back to recall the terrain we travelled starting from beginning the speciality of Developmental Paediatrics, pioneering the post-doctoral fellowship and PhD programme to train professionals and defining the content and contour of child development for Neuro-developmentally challenged children, I feel overwhelmed and moved that this was possible !
The defining factor was the invitation from the Christian Medical College, Vellore in 1995 to ASHIRVAD to start the first Developmental Paediatrics speciality. That academic platform created because of the interest of the then Director Dr V.I.Mathen, initiated a chain of responses with more departments of Developmental Paediatrics getting started in India during the last thirty years.
There were three other friends who significantly supported us at different seasons of this explorative journey. Let me copy the tribute page from the recent book published by ASHIRVAD, Engage your child, to remember them and their involvements.
Now with the above books, Anna and I feel grateful and fulfilled that we were given an opportunity to join hands with others to do our part to support children and families and introduce professionals to this speciality!
Every journey in starting a new academic discipline and unfolding the clinical application of that speciality is a long process. I feel grateful for the general acceptance and consensus that Developmental Paediatrics is a confluence of Developmental Neurology, Developmental morphology, Developmental Physiology, Developmental Psychology and Developmental therapy.
That perspective is bringing a pathway approach in clinical pursuit: Causal pathway, Parenting pathway, Enabling pathway, Learning pathway, and child-life centred pathway !
At the end of the forty years when Anna and I step back, what we see is a panorama of activities to promote health, wellness and abilities of Neuro-developmentally challenged children even in hospitals located in rural areas.
A Paediatrician located in a mission hospital at Satbarwa used the tele-consultation facility for a year. Now that she is relocated at another hospital, she is active in tele-consultation to initiate child development service in that hospital. A weekly on line clinical forum functioned for five years where Paediatricians and post graduate trainees used the forum for clinical discussion on developmentally challenged children.
What is still a dream is to have an interdisciplinary team of professionals meeting on-line once a week to discuss clinical and developmental challenges of children and develop the practice of collective thinking in child development service to create a fraternity of professionals trusting and communicating with each other!
Anna and I want to greet all Parents, Children, Professions and Friends of ASHIRVAD who touched our lives during the years with these Lilies from our garden. We felt accompanied from the time we sensed a call to walk a less travelled path in Child development and rehabilitation!
M.C.Mathew ( text and photo)
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