Spending too much time in diagnosis is not the way forward for neurodevelopmental disorders. Doctors say that parents can do early screening if they find that the mental growth of a child is not like that of a normal child. Children with speech, hearing and language disorders can be spotted early, and there are tools which help doctors pick up signs of autism in babies as young as 16 to 30 months. Making hearing assessment mandatory for newborns is now being demanded by the Indian Academy of Paediatricians (IAP) as early detection improves chances of treatment. Generally, these cases are found to come in too late.
Hearing problems lead to impaired speech development. To prevent this, doctors say mandatory testing will go a long way in identifying the disorders early.
Dr Leena Srivastava, national secretary of IAP, explained, “We have tools to carry out early screening to understand developmental disorders. These can be language skills, hearing problems, learning disabilities or various autism spectrum disorders. There are tools which help understand what is wrong and they do not require medication as much as therapy.” She said parents of such children need to be given time as they have to be evaluated with proper questioning and then understanding the response from the child.
While there is awareness about physical growth, the awareness on development of the brain and mental growth is largely lacking among parents Senior paediatrician Dr Samir Dalwai said the development of the child’s brain begins in the pre-conception stage. “The mother has to be healthy before conceiving the child. Tackling these groups of neurological disorders requires awareness in the mother who has to be healthy before the conception. The role of nutrition, rich in micro-nutrients and fatty acids, is very essential for the development of the brain.”
IAP members who have been discussing the different development disorders stated that every month no less than 15 children come in with neurodevelopmental disorders. Many of them are referred by school teachers for learning disabilities, behavioural problems and also inability to grasp simple terms.