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 One
of the latest additions to the hospital services has
been the Child Development Clinic, which caters to the
needs of physically and mentally handicapped children.
The clinic offers comprehensive management by using the
services of a specially 'trained Pediatrician,
Psychiatrist, Clinical Psychologist,
Speech Therapist, Play Therapist, Physiotherapist,
Orthotist. Prosthetist, Occupational Therapist and
Medical Social Worker, so far 1900 cases have been
registered and are being followed up regularly.
 Many child-care providers have questions
about how brains develop in young children and what they
can do to help with this development. Before you had a
baby, you probably never gave
much thought to the most basic functions that adults
take for granted. You cannot remember a time when you
could not sit, stand, walk or speak. Now you have a
newborn baby in your hands and you just do not know what
to expect. This tiny creature is like a blank slate and
parents spend many an anxious moment waiting for that
first smile, the first sign of recognition, the first
day your baby stands up.
A baby is a thing of joy forever. Parents are constantly
fascinated and often delighted and surprised as they
watch their baby grow up. From the time they are born,
babies are constantly learning and growing, gaining new
abilities and mastering new skills. Ability is inherent,
but a child's immediate environment will determine how
the ability develops and grows. Development is an
ongoing process from birth to about 18 years i.e. until
physical maturity.
The first three years feature amazing development and is
a period of unparalleled growth in all areas of your
baby's development. While we know that the development
of a young child's brain is a "work in progress" that
takes years to complete, we also know that development
in the early years is quite dramatic and can establish
patterns for life-long learning.
 The
newborn's brain has a long way to go. We now understand
that, contrary to previous widely held beliefs, the
human brain is not fully developed at birth. In fact, a
newbom's brain is about 25% of its approximate adult
weight. By age 3, it has grown dramatically by producing
billions of cells (neurons and other brain cells) and
hundreds of trillions of connections between these cells
(synapses). Taken together, they form a complex control
center for sensing the world and enabling the baby not
only to see, hear, move, taste and touch but also to
think, feel, and behave in particular ways. In other
words, the baby's and young child's brain is vastly more
active and complex than previously known.
Neuroscientists are not only trying to learn more about
the physical structure and functioning of the brain but
are also beginning to focus their attention on the ways
in which early nurturing experiences such as holding,
feeding, and comforting impact the way a baby's brain
develops.
Parents are important! Parents can, and do, influence
all areas of their babies' development in countless ways
every day. Most parents understand the value of loving;
secure relationships and age-appropriate and interesting
experiences in fostering children's physical,
psychological and intellectual development. They learn
about the uniqueness of their babies in terms of
temperament, preferences, the way they like to be held,
what soothes them when they're upset, how they like to
explore the world, what makes them smile. Parents'
growing knowledge, combined with their unqualified
commitment to their babies' well being, makes them their
babies' most powerful teachers and advocates. The more
you as a parent learn about brain development, the more
you will realize that all of the things that you quite
naturally do with your baby in response to his or her
unique signals foster healthy development.
Recent census should high percentage of various
handicaps in all states. The handicap may be isolate or
in various combination like Mental retardation, physical
retardation, visual, hearing handicapped, cerebral palsy
, Down's syndrome, behavioral problems and so on. All
these handicaps have clinical and social importance.
Many of the conditions which are dealt in Child
Development Clinic do not have curative treatment. Many
people including doctors, paediatricians, are of the
opinion that nothing can be done for these children.
They are right in the sense that there is no treatment
which makes these children absolutely normal like
others. At the same time it does not mean that these
children should be left like that. With training of
parents in physiotherapy, using various appliances and
other rehabilitative measures we can attempt to make
these children capable of handling themselves and not to
be dependent on care givers even for their activities of
daily living like feeding, bathing and others. Even the
parents are educated here on the various facilities and
benefits provided by the government for these
handicapped children.
A correct diagnosis for the child after basic work-up
goes a long way in giving the right prognosis and
genetic counseling to parents so as to prevent such
disabilities in future. A good chunk of these disorders
have a genetic basis and as consanguinity is very common
in these part of country, there is 7-8% chance of
recurrence of similar illness in future pregnancies.
Hence the parents need to be counseled properly. Correct
diagnosis and proper counseling goes a long way in
reducing the burden on the family, taking out false
belief in parents and prevents doctor shopping.
Handicapped children require multi disciplinary approach
for management comprising of Various specialties,
services and aids all available under one roof, the
family at large need counseling regarding the handicap,
its prevention and rehabilitation.
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