Teachers play a crucial role in initially identifying if a child has any learning or developmental disability, Ennapadam S. Krishnamoorthy, founder of Neurokrish, a neuropsychiatry centre and Trimed said here on Sunday.
Assessing the child
He said that teachers are key informants who have to be trained to assess if the child has any learning disability. Then, medical officers or clinical psychologists can confirm what type it is and give the necessary therapy to the child. “It's not so easy to find a large number of clinical psychologists. So, in addition, other healthcare professionals can be trained too. Children need to be screened systematically,” he said.
Trimed and Vidyasagar, a voluntary organisation working with people with disabilities, came together to see how alternative methods like naturotherapy and ayurveda helped children with disability. “We worked with about 20 children wherein they received 28 interventions for a week and by the end of the session, we found a lot of positive changes. They had a sound sleep, reduced irritability and frustration,” he said.
Speaking on ‘Autism: Working with multiple intelligence,’ Usha Ramakrishnan, formerly chairperson, Vidyasagar, said, autism is a neuro-biological developmental disorder and children get fragmented perception.
“For instance, a child may put one shoe but it waits for instruction to wear the other. The instructions [in the brain] are delivered separately and that's where the problem is. The potential of persons with autism may be seen through the lens of multiple intelligence; that is, each person is unique and there is something that one child can do so effortlessly that another one may not be able to.”
Understanding is key
Shirin Mammen, a special educator, said children are often forced into what may be called adult or acceptable behaviour. “Children with autism have to be understood inside out. There is no single, standardised approach [to help them].”
Rajul Padmanabhan, director of Vidyasagar and Rema Raghu of Trimed also spoke during the occasion.
