Understanding Developmental Disabilities

girl-with-down-syndrome-studying-with-her-teacher-home.webp

28/Oct/2022

Understanding Developmental Disabilities

Developmental disabilities are a group of conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behaviour areas. These conditions begin during the developmental period, may impact day-to-day functioning, and usually last throughout a person’s lifetime. If your child has a developmental delay, it does not necessarily mean they have a developmental disability. However, a developmental delay can be an early indicator of a learning disability and most children with disabilities exhibit several developmental delays.

The causes of developmental disabilities are varied and remain unknown in a large proportion of cases. Genetic factors have long been implicated in causing developmental disabilities. These conditions are also believed to have a large environmental component, and the relative contributions of nature versus nurture have been debated for decades.

Preterm birth is known to be a predictor for potential developmental disabilities later in childhood, which complicates the question of nature versus nurture, as premature birth could already have resulted from earlier and longer existing difficulties. Second, being born at such an immature gestation could immediately have damaged the main organs (lungs and brain) or, third, such damage could arise in the neonatal period, for instance from the necessary intrusive treatment.

Without early intervention during the critical window – the first 6 years of their life – children might continue to face challenges and may have trouble in catching up. This decreases their chances of entering a mainstream school. A disability can impact one of these facets of a child’s development: cognition, motor, vision, hearing, speech, and behaviour. Cognitive or intellectual disabilities can include specific learning disabilities, as well as reading disabilities, like dyslexia. One example of a behavioural deficit includes Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder. Some disabilities are only identified later in childhood, such as when a child starts school.

At Jeevaniyam, with the team of expert doctor and therapists we intervene the child at a very young age with adequate training along with ayurvedic therapies and a good diet and enable to cope up with their peers and help them to overcome from the condition that may persist through out their life. We have specific educational programs that will enable the child to achieve their social smile and can lead good quality normal life.

happy-young-parents-with-little-daughter-stand-blooming-pink-tree-outside-1200x800.jpg

11/Apr/2022

Parenting Tips On How To Identify Developmental Challenges

Your children’s growth, needs, and challenges change quickly over the years and your parenting concerns develop right along with them. Shifting your parenting strategies to keep up with your child’s growth is a big task, but it’s important to consider your child’s health and wellness needs at every age and stage of development. In this guide, you’ll learn how to help your children thrive as they grow physically, mentally, and emotionally.

When it comes to developmental delays, there can be more than one type. The developmental delays fall into the following categories:

Language or speech problems
Vision problems
Movement—Motor Skills problems
Social and Emotional Skills problems
Thinking—Cognitive Skills problems

As a parent you give your children a good start in life—you nurture, protect and guide them. Parenting is a process that prepares your child for independence. As your child grows and develops, there are many things you can do to help your child. These links will help you learn more about your child’s development, positive parenting, safety, and health at each stage of your child’s life. Children take their own time to reach developmental milestones. While some children grow at the usual pace, some can be slow. However, parents don’t need to be alarmed when this happens. As a parent, you should understand that please understand that delayed development is perfectly fine. It’s okay for a child to miss certain milestones by some months, and there’s no cause for concern. The concern is only when the milestones are not achieved after the timelines.

The main reason why these developmental challenges happen. There can be many factors that affect the neurobiological system of a child, for example:

Genetic defects like down syndrome
Fragile X syndrome, which is a type of gene mutation inherited from parents
Severe medical problems caused due to preterm birth
Unidentifiable causes

At Jeevaniyam we have different learning programs and unique approaches for children with developmental issues. They do not see their developmental challenges as a barrier to their future growth and fulfilment.

young-woman-doing-speech-therapy-with-kids-1200x800.jpg

07/Apr/2022

IMPROVING SPEECH IN CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY

Children with developmental delays related to processing disorders and learning disorders like verbal dyspraxia often need help matching the speech development of their peers. A common issue is that speech and language problems differ, but often overlap. A child with a language delay might say words well but only be able to put two words together. A child with a speech delay might use words and phrases to express ideas but be hard to understand. Learning about common speech issues in children with developmental delays can help you determine which one affects your child. Speech issues and delays can be improved with at-home solutions or with the help of a qualified professional.

If your child doesn’t develop according to this timeline, he or she may have speech and developmental delay that requires attention:

12 months – recognizes his or her own name, understands basic instructions and uses one or two words
18 months – uses between five and 20 words
1 to 2 years – growing vocabulary, uses two-word sentences, imitates sounds that animals make and understands what “no” means
2 to 3 years – has a vocabulary of about 450 words, calls himself or herself “me” instead of by name, enjoys hearing stories, uses short sentences with some plural words
3 to 4 years – Uses sentences with four or five words, vocabulary expands to 1,000, can repeat several nursery rhymes
4 to 5 years – Uses past tense, has the vocabulary of 1,500 words, starts asking questions
5 to 6 years – 6,000-word vocabulary, can describe objects and locations, uses sentences with five to six words

If your child does not develop along this timeline, he or she may have a related physical or developmental issue such as articulation disorder, fluency disorder, or resonance disorder.

At Jeevaniyam, our speech and language therapist will do a thorough check of their milestones and find out whether the child is having any issues with the help of the following checks:

What your child understands?
What your child can say?
Sound development and clarity of speech.
Your child’s oral-motor status (how the mouth, tongue, palate, etc., work together for speech as well as eating and swallowing)

Based on the test results, the speech-language pathologist might recommend speech therapy for your child. The speech therapist will work with your child to improve speech and language skills and show you what to do at home to help your child. Parents are an important part of helping kids who have speech or language problems. A few key areas that we strongly suggest the parents do at home to improve the child’s overall speech skills are:

Talk with your baby, sing, and encourage imitation of sounds and gestures.
Start reading when your child is a baby. Look for age-appropriate soft or board books or picture books that encourage kids to look while you name the pictures.
Use everyday situations. To build on your child’s speech and language, talk your way through the day.

30/Mar/2022

Cognitive Developmental Delay: How Can We Identify It?

A cognitive developmental delay refers to the condition of children whose intellectual function and adaptive behaviour are significantly below the expected average for their age. Other names for cognitive developmental delays include intellectual disabilities, cognitive impairment, or cognitive/intellectual disorder.

Data from 4000 families from 6 regions of India revealed that 10-18% of children aged 2-9 years from rural/urban/hilly areas had one or more Neurological Development Delay. Cognitive development delays are the most common types of developmental disorder. According to the Center for Disease Control, cognitive delays occur in approximately 12 of every 1,000 children and can range from mild and moderate to severe and profound.

The main causes of cognitive developmental delay are:

Pregnancy Condition: A child can develop a cognitive delay because of injury during pregnancy or inability to develop within the womb. Natal conditions such as the presence of drugs, alcohol, or infections (e.g., rubella) can also cause cognitive delays.

Birth Condition: A child can develop a cognitive delay because of problems during birth (such as inadequate oxygen or prematurity).
Genetic Condition: A child may inherit abnormal genes or a chromosomal disorder. Examples include Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, or phenylketonuria (PKU).
Health Condition: Malnutrition, untreated diseases meningitis or whooping cough, exposure to poison (such as lead or mercury) and inadequate medical care can also cause cognitive delays.

Some of the early signs that can be detected in the early stages for cognitive delay are as follows:

Sitting, crawling, or walking later than other children
Difficulty speaking
Short attention span: inability to remember things
Trouble thinking logically
Infantile behaviour that persists into preschool and school years
Lack of age-appropriate adaptive/self-help skills
Lack of curiosity
Trouble understanding social rules or consequences of behaviour

At Jeevaniyam we detect the early signs of cognitive delay with the guidance of our expert clinical psychologist. We do a detailed psychological evaluation to understand the cognitive ability intellectual functions, adaptive skills & adaptive behaviour. We do individualised assessments with the guidance of a clinical psychologist along with the other multi-disciplinary team professionals including speech and language pathologists, physical therapists & special educators.

Our holistic treatment includes personalised Ayurvedic protocol along with internal medications, lifestyle management, dietary interventions, clinical yoga, music therapy, counselling, behaviour modification therapy, sensory integration therapy, special education, supportive education, cognitive enhancement therapy and other need requisite therapies are given at Jeevaniyam to improve the cognitive ability along with the other deficits.

little-girl-uses-smartphone-while-sitting-her-room-1200x800.jpg

15/Mar/2022

Child’s Developmental Cycle Issues During The Pandemic Era

The 2019 Covid irresistible sickness (COVID-19) flare-up caused a worldwide pandemic. Social separating strategies, which have been displayed to alleviate the outbreak were carried out worldwide. The decreased friendship related to isolation, detachment, and school closures deliver social stress, which may unfavourably influence youngster wellbeing and development.

Moreover, social distancing arrangements reshape the living climate for kids and regularly diminish open doors for active work and open-air exposure, which are basic things for the mental and physiological growth of a kid. Nowadays both kids and parents rely on social media for any sort of information and entertainment which directly increased stress which proportionately increased feelings of anxiety, depression.

The impacts of COVID-19-associated social stress on child health are unclear and may persist long after the pandemic. Thus, evaluations of epidemiological relationships between pandemics and child health are needed to inform planning the relevant interventions. Children’s health is one of the most important issues in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and science has shown that genetic predispositions are modified by environmental influences, such as those experienced during a pandemic, and affect learning capacities, adaptive behaviours, lifelong physical and mental health, and adult productivity.

At Jeevaniyam some of the key findings that we notice among children are:

More established kids and teenagers announced higher and more severe rates of depressive symptoms.

Children with pre-existing conditions were more significantly affected by pandemic-related changes.
Children who were exposed to pre-existing childhood abuse and neglect were at increased risk of stress.

Children and adolescents who spent more time on physical activities and maintaining routines were better protected from depressive symptoms.
Children engaging in recreational activities, using technology to communicate with loved ones, having more time for themselves and one’s family, protected against anxiety and contributed to overall wellbeing during the pandemic.

Children who already had difficulty in studies experienced more depression and trouble adapting to online education.

Some of the recommendations that we provide for improving a child’s developmental cycle are:

Promote physical activity at home
Give them good and nutritious food
Support digital technologies as a force for change.
Educate & support parents to make quality family time during pandemics.
Start building a foundation for positive mental health in children.

28/Feb/2022

Ancient Wisdom Of Ayurveda For A Healthy Progeny

Our precursors accepted that the making of life was an impression of the heavenly perspective inside us. As an expecting mother, it is vital to pay regard to each perspective that could impact the wellbeing and advancement of a healthy progeny.

Pregnancy is a wonderful period of a lady’s life and during this period they not just need care from their family they additionally need to keep themselves unadulterated from inside, so the child is sound as the mother’s state of mind and wellbeing ponders the developing child.

At Jeevaniyam, we practice the following Ayurvedic tips which is useful for having a healthy progeny:

Practice Grabha Sanskar

In Sanskrit, Garbha means the womb and sanskar means educating the mind. Thus, Garbha sanskar means educating the mind of the fetus growing in the mother’s womb. Ayurveda believes a child’s mental and behavioral development starts as the mother conceives. The child’s personality begins to take shape in the womb, and this is influenced by the mother’s state of mind during pregnancy.

Follow Sattvic

There is a lot of emotional support and physical care that you needed during pregnancy. Ayurveda says that you should follow the sattvic lifestyle that is not to harbour negative emotions like sorrow, anger, grief, doubt and fear as this would affect the growing baby. Always stay happy by exposing yourself to a happy environment surrounded by happy people and cheerful things.

Abhyanga
Begin your day with a full-body self-massage. Apply warm sesame oil with an open palm using long strokes along the long bones and circular strokes on the joints. Massage the abdomen gently. Massaging of the nipples is recommended after the 4th month. After abhyanga, take a warm water bath. It helps to open the channel of circulation.

Balance your Vata Dosha
Ayurveda says that during pregnancy one should always balance their Vata Dosha. This can be best done by consuming a diet of fresh, plant-based, whole or sprouted grains as well as non-processed foods. During pregnancy, one should always have warm and freshly cooked foods with healthy oils like olive oil, ghee, and coconut oil. To-be-mothers should also avoid eating leftovers as much as possible. Food during pregnancy · Apart from a balanced vegetarian diet, iron, and calcium are most important for a pregnant woman. She should consume milk and fresh juices of sweet seasonal fruits · Calcium can be ingested through dry dates and ladoos · For iron and folic acid, eat black raisins, figs, saffron, spinach, pomegranate and apples. Food should be enriched with all six types of tastes (sweet, pungent, sour, bitter, spicy and astringent)

22/Feb/2022

How Can We Overcome

A developmental delay refers to a child who has not gained the developmental skills expected of him or her, compared to others of the same age. Delays may occur in the areas of motor function, speech, and language, cognitive, play, and social skills. Global developmental delay means a young child has significant delays in two or more of these areas of development. Not meeting developmental milestones at the same rate as other kids isn’t always a reason to worry. Children don’t all develop skills on a strict timetable.

Children presenting with mild developmental delay, in the absence of any red flags and no abnormality detected on clinical examination, parents can be advised about appropriate stimulation activities and a review conducted in three months’ time, especially if earlier milestones were achieved. For example, an 18-month-old child may present with concerns of expressive language delay, as he has only started saying a few single words with meaning.

In cases where delays have been identified, but there is parental denial, make sure that there is a more detailed developmental assessment. The functional impact of the child’s developmental delay should be explained to the parents for them to understand the situation.

At Jeevaniyam during each consultation, the primary care physician encourages the parents to share any concerns they might have about their child’s development or behaviour, conduct an opportunistic evaluation (developmental surveillance) and ensure that the child has attended developmental screening at the prescribed touch points. Based on the consultation, a decision can be made to review again, refer further or discharge.

We train the kids with the following skills:

Cognitive (or thinking) skills:

The ability to think, learn and solve problems.
Social and emotional skills:

The ability to get along with others, communicate needs, and show and express feelings.
Speech and language skills:

The ability to use and understand language.
Fine and gross motor skills:

The ability to coordinate small and large muscles to explore the world.
Daily living activities:

The ability to manage everyday tasks. improve the following areas for the kids.

15/Feb/2022

Impact Of Overuse Of Gadgets In Children

Innovation and children today is a sight you regularly see. A little child holding a tablet, a baby with a phone in his / her mouth!

What’s going on?

At one point, parents have great regard for gadgets as a way to pacify their children and as an entertaining and educational tool. But later on, it becomes an alarming sight. Electronic gadgets and mobile phones have become the preferred toys and ‘tantrum pacifiers’ for toddlers and pre-school children nowadays. It may be near impossible to spot children without gadgets in their hands. They are immersed in games or videos, oblivious to their surroundings – both at home and in public. The use of gadgets in early childhood can affect the mental and physical development of children.

Unreasonable utilization of devices has various pessimistic impacts on kids, among them are stress, addiction, depression, emotional problem, cognitive and moral development disorder, furthermore, it is exceptionally perilous for youngsters who don’t focus on individuals around them since they are occupied with their gadgets.

With the Covid-19 pandemic increasing our dependency on electronic gadgets, overexposure to such devices is adversely affecting children, particularly toddlers below the age of three. Pandemic-induced business and school closures have caused many families to adjust to a new reality. Parents have converted bedrooms and living rooms into home offices, while children have transitioned to online learning and an increasingly digital social life. Meanwhile, many parents have eased restrictions on devices so their children can stay entertained, engaged, and connected. Many cases of abnormal delays in speech and language development among kids of this age group are being reported at childcare centres.

The effects of modern gadgets on children are as follows:

Drastic brain development
Obesity
Violence
Radiation Exposure
Reduced Interaction
Sleep Deprivation
No attachment to nature
Damaged eyesight
Addiction

At Jeevaniyam we teach parents that technology should be encouraged and yet moderated. We teach that new generation and kids should get the right amount of knowledge over such advancements. However, parents must perform their responsibility of protecting their child. We introduce a new habit of playing outdoors and interesting games with kids of his age.

08/Feb/2022

Understanding Global Developmental Delay

The term Developmental Delay or Global Development Delay is utilized when a youngster takes more time to arrive at specific improvement achievements than different kids their age. This may incorporate figuring out how to walk or talk, developmental abilities, learning new things and cooperating with others socially and inwardly.

Infants and kids for the most part master significant abilities, for example, sitting up, turning over, creeping, strolling, jabbering (giving fundamental discourse sounds), talking and becoming latrine prepared as they grow up. A youngster with Developmental Delay may not arrive at at least one of these achievements until some other time than anticipated.

This issue will come to light only after the kid is conceived. While a single cause for GDD is not available in many cases, both genetic and environmental factors seem to play roles in GDD like premature birth. This could be because of an issue that was created before birth, an issue during birth for instance, in the event that the child didn’t get sufficient oxygen, or was conceived too soon, a youth disease or an actual mishap during youth.

As they develop, kids’ advancements will be surveyed routinely and in the event that they aren’t meeting the normal formative achievements and levels of capacities, they might be alluded for additional more expert evaluation.

A few questions that everyone has about GDD is as follows:

Are you unable to see your child not crawling or walking in the anticipated time or are they missing a milestone?
What is the truth behind GDD?
Does Ayurveda have any role in such cases?

At Jeevaniyam, we use ayurvedic techniques to identify this and if we suspect that if a child had GDD, we pose inquiries with respect to the youngster’s advancement till now and assess their current milestone achievement. As a second step we will provide the child with our unique protocols according to each individual. Ayurveda regimen, he can help the patient improve his physical and emotional strength.