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Parent Empowerment in Early Intervention Programmes of Children with Hearing Loss in Mumbai, India

KULKARNI, Kasturi Arun
GATHOO, Varsha Shrikant
2017

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Purpose: Since families are perceived to be active agents in the early intervention programmes of young children with disabilities, professionals ought to treat parents as equal partners and keep them informed and involved in various aspects of the intervention.  This study aimed to explore the areas in which parent empowerment is currently being facilitated in the early intervention centres for children with hearing loss.

 

Method: A qualitative research with conversational analysis was the approach used. Focus group discussions with the two primary stakeholders, namely parents and special educators, were held separately at five sites in Mumbai, to gather their views on the existing areas of empowerment. It was also decided to explore the felt needs of parents in this regard. Person triangulation was used to ascertain the credibility of the data.

 

Results: Conversational analysis yielded 4 themes with respect to parents: Parental knowledge, involvement, support and needs. 

 

Conclusion and Implications: The study highlighted the gaps in parent empowerment in the programmes undertaken by early intervention centres.  A recommendation is made to develop a common framework for empowering parents. It is envisaged that such a framework will bridge the gap between what currently exists for parents, their felt needs, and current global practices.  This framework could also assist in measuring family empowerment outcomes.

Effect of Multidisciplinary Intervention on Clinical Outcomes of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Mumbai, India

DALWAI, S H
MODAK, D K
BONDRE, A P
ANSARI, S
SIDDIQUI, D
GAJRIA, D
2017

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Purpose: To analyse clinical outcomes in terms of functional changes in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), before and after receiving a multidisciplinary developmental intervention programme.

 

Methods: Structured goal-oriented multidisciplinary intervention, individualised to each child, was implemented through 5 child development centres in Mumbai, India, in 2014-2015. Secondary data analysis of 38 children diagnosed with ASD, in the age group of 2.1 - 6.1 years, was conducted. All children received occupational therapy and speech therapy, and parental counselling was also done. The average number of intervention sessions were 48-72 for occupational therapy (twice or thrice a week), 24-48 for speech therapy (once or twice a week) and 5-6 for parental counselling (once a month). Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS) were used for assessment, before and after intervention.

 

Results: Mean positive difference in CARS total scores through paired t-test was 4.18 (p < 0.0001). Significant positive changes in functional ability were observed in most of the sub-scales (relating to people; object use; visual response; verbal and non-verbal communication; taste, smell and touch response and use; level and consistency of intellectual response and general impression). Paired t-test also showed significant positive changes on all VSMS sub-scales, exceptSocialisation.

 

Conclusions: The model used in this multidisciplinary intervention, and adherence to its protocols, has the potential to improve functional ability (or the child’s adaptation to his/her condition) in children with ASD, in a region with limited awareness of developmental disabilities.

 

Limitations: Separate effects of factors outside the intervention could not be tested due to inadequate sample sizes for sub-analyses. Results also need to be validated by tests that do not depend on parental reporting (e.g., CARS and VSMS) but assess the performance of the child instead.

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