A two-day workshop on Neurodevelopmental Disorder (NDD) in children was organized in the city which was attended by over 100 participants from various government departments.
This was the first-of-its-kind initiative towards supporting children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) by fostering awareness, reducing stigma, and providing healthcare workers with the necessary knowledge and skills for early diagnosis and timely intervention to avoid delays in the cognitive/brain development process.
The workshop, which concluded on March 28, was facilitated by the State Capability Enhancement Project (SCEP) and the Meghalaya Early Childhood Development Mission (MECDM) in collaboration with state departments along with the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit and the Centre for Advanced Research and Excellence in Autism and Developmental Disorders (CARE-ADD) of St John’s Medical College.
The participants came from different professional backgrounds, such as doctors specializing in pediatrics and psychiatry, psychologists, special education teachers, nurses, social workers, lady supervisors, physiotherapists, and audiologists. Additionally, there were functionaries, counselors, research assistants, officers, and occupational therapists present.
Project Director Dr NP Laloo, Senior Orthopaedic Surgeon, State Resource Centre for Disability Affairs. Dr. Laloo emphasised the critical role played by healthcare personnel at every level, from the grassroots to the upper management level, in identifying and screening individuals with NDDs within the state.
Commissioner & Secretary Pravin Bakshi emphasised the importance of participants becoming master trainers and taking home the knowledge acquired during the workshop. He highlighted the challenges in identifying children with NDDs, particularly given the terrain of the state, and stressed the importance of early identification and outreach to parents.
It may be mentioned that in 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that approximately 1 in 44 children are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in India.
Secretary of the Health & Family Welfare Ramkumar S spoke about the importance of childhood in shaping individuals’ lives. He highlighted the scientific aspect of NDDs, explaining that advancements in neurology and physiology, starting from nutrition, play a crucial role. He highlighted the role of RBSK Teams in screening children but acknowledged the need to strengthen these efforts further.
In many cases, there isn’t a definitive medical test to confirm NDDs and often, results appear normal, with diagnosis relying heavily on observation, Additional Project Director of ECD & CEO at MSRLS Ramakrishna Chitturi said.
He informed that as part of ECD, the aim is to create a cadre of ECD Facilitators who can provide such therapy and also train parents for home-based care, which is especially important due to the shortage of trained caregivers and only if institutional therapy is coupled with home-based therapy can the impact on the development of children with NDDs be improved.
The workshop covered autism, Exploring Intellectual Disability, Specific Learning Disability (SLD), and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), while also exploring the use of assistive technologies and providing guidance for parents and caregivers to support affected children.
