Published On:2016-01-01 12:00:00

Awareness and Community-based Assessment of Special Child (differently able child)

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We conducted a community based assessment campaign Titled as “Speech & Language Difficulties Screening Campaign” for special children at a rural remote village of Naogaon District on 23 December 2016. In Bangladesh, the services for special need children are virtually absent in rural areas and most of the people hardly have any idea about how and where to seek care.

 

The objectives of the campaign were to create awareness among the rural people regarding special child care, assess speech & language difficulties among the special children in a selected union and make their caregivers aware about the importance of early intervention.

 

We disseminated the information about the campaign throughout the union and encouraged voluntary participation of special children for screening guided by their parents/caregivers. One Clinical Speech & Language Therapy bachelor and one medical graduate assessed a total of 32 children using predefined assessment tools. Among those voluntarily participated children, 63 %(20) and 9%(3) were clinically diagnosed as Cerebral Palsy (CP) and  Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) respectively. Down’s syndrome, Intellectual disabilities were the rest of the cases. Surprisingly all the children were in need of speech and language therapy. In addition, majority of them required occupational therapy and physiotherapy.