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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.


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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.

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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.

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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.


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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.


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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.


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