New Project: Early Intervention Clinic

In partnership with the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy, earlier this year we begun supporting their Early Intervention Clinic (EIC) for infants at high risk of cerebral palsy. The project is based in Kolkata, India and supports an average of 350 children every year.

The infants brought to the clinic are aged between 0-3 years. Most service users come into this service through referrals from hospitals and health centres. Approximately one third of families are below the poverty line (BPL).

The purpose of the EIC is to provide advice and guidance on home management in which families with a child with disabilities are supported by a trans-disciplinary team of therapists, special educators and social workers.

Programme Procedures:

1. Families initially come to a weekly Diagnostic Clinic run by IICP’s pediatric consultants.
2. The infants are screened by senior physiotherapists for possible signs of a neuro-motor problem.
3. This is followed by a comprehensive assessment of needs.
4. This leads to a holistic program in which the child avails of physiotherapy, early childhood and special education, hydrotherapy and multi-sensory stimulation experiences
5. The social workers provide family support and counselling to reduce stress and anxiety. Goals are formulated in consultation with the family. The parents are taught the therapy and stimulation programmes so they can be followed at home between visits. Most importantly, these are meshed into the family routine and thus unlikely to cause any anxiety or disruption.

Clinics:

Paediatric Clinic: Two paediatricians conduct weekly clinics for medical check-ups and problems if any.

Neurology Clinic: This clinic is conducted by a neurologist twice a month. More than 100 children are referred for treatment of epilepsy. Anti-convulsion medication is provided free of cost to the children of low income families.

Speech Clinic: IICP’s Consultant Speech Therapist and Audiologist conducts this clinic every week. Children are screened for possible hearing difficulties and rehabilitation programmes are advised. All babies below three years of age who attend the Early Intervention (Baby) Clinic are routinely checked to ensure that if there is hearing loss it is detected at an early age.

Unique Features

• Social workers visit homes when there is a crisis or a particular issue that related to the home and needs to be resolved.
• A large range of need-based training programmes are conducted for parents.
• At the age of 3 years, all children continue to avail of services in the ‘Family Services’ of IICP.