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What are the services that are provided at your clinic?
Please refer to the services section of the website. When a child first comes to us, the child is evaluated for the extent of problem/Depending upon that the child is called for hourly 1:1 services with the therapist either for a once a week/twice week service. Some parents who find it difficult to come so often because of distance or other difficulties can come for a home program where the therapist gives a program for the child to work upon.
What is Autism?
This is by far the most frequently asked question. Briefly, it is a severely incapacitating life long developmental disorder that typically occurs in the first three years of life. It causes impairment or disturbance in three main areas Social skills, communicative (verbal as well as non-verbal) skills and in their repetitive and restricted behaviors. Autistic individuals may show abnormal responses to sensations. Any one or more of the senses may be affected. All these difficulties manifest themselves in behaviors i.e. abnormal ways of relating to people, objects and events in the environment. Autism is known as a 'spectrum disorder', because the severity of symptoms ranges from a mild learning and social disability to a severe impairment, with multiple problems and highly unusual behavior. The disorder may occur alone, or with accompanying problems such as mental retardation or seizures. Autism is not a rare disorder, being the third most common developmental disorder, more common than Down's Syndrome. Typically, about 20 in a population of 10,000 people will be autistic or have autistic symptoms. 80% of those affected by autism are boys. Autism is found throughout the world, in families of all economic, social, and racial backgrounds. Doctors, politicians, and rickshaw drivers alike all have autistic children.
 How is autism diagnosed?
There are no medical or genetic tests that can detect autism. These can only rule out other conditions. A diagnosis of autism requires a sensitive and experienced doctor to observe the child very carefully, ask the parents about the development of the child, and then objectively follow internationally recognized criteria for diagnosis. Onset may occur at birth, or a child may have a period of normal development followed by a deterioration of verbal and social skills around 1 1/2-2 1/2 years. Where onset is at birth, the disorder can be detected as early as a year. Autism may occur alongside conditions such as mental retardation and hyperactivity, but the autistic traits in the person are typically what require attention.
What is AVB?
http://www.christinaburkaba.com/AVB.htm
What are the the signs that one should look out for ADHD?
ADHD predominantly inattentive type:
- Fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes.
- Has difficulty sustaining attention.
- Does not appear to listen.
- Struggles to follow through on instructions.
- Has difficulty with organization.
- Avoids or dislikes tasks requiring sustained mental effort.
- Loses things.
- Is easily distracted.
- Is forgetful in daily activities.
ADHD predominantly hyperactive type:
- Fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in chair.
- Has difficulty remaining seated.
- Runs about or climbs excessively.
- Has difficulty engaging in activities quietly.
- Acts as if `driven by a motor'.
- Talks excessively.
ADHD predominantly impulsive type:
- Blurts out answers before questions have been asked.
- Difficulty waiting or taking turns.
- Interrupts or intrudes upon others.
How do you classify MR?
Level Of Retarfation |
IQ |
| Mild Retardation |
50-69 |
| Moderate Retardation |
35-49 |
| Severe Retardation |
20-34 |
| Profound Retardation |
Below 20 |
What are some of the signs of MR?
Symptoms/ Warning Signs:
- Failure to meet intellectual developmental markers.
- Persistence of infantile behavior.
- Decreased learning ability.
- Inability to meet age appropriate education/academic demand.
What are some of the signs for Downs syndrome?
- Decreased muscle tone at birth.
- Separated sutures (joints between the bones of the skull).
- Asymmetrical or odd shaped skull.
- Round head with flat area at the back of the head.
- Small skull.
- Upward slanting eyes, unusual for ethnic group.
- Small mouth with protruding tongue.
- Broad short hands.
- Single crease on palms.
- Retarded growth and development.
- Brush field's Spots of the iris. (an abnormality in the colored part of the eye.)
What are the some of the signs for Learning Disabilities?
Preschool
- Late talking most of the time.
- Pronunciation problems.
- Slow vocabulary growth, often unable to find the right word.
- Frequently substitutes related words eg. `table' for `bench'.
- Difficulty rhyming words.
- Likes listening to stories but shows no interest in letters and numbers.
- Does not ask questions and becomes frustrated when questions are asked eg. When asked `when is your birthday', he may answer `eat cake'.
- Cannot relate events or stories in a logical order.
- Talks little during spontaneous play, answers in single words.
- Trouble learning numbers, the alphabet, days of the week.
- Poor ability to follow directions or routines eg. Left-right confusion.
- Shows significant discrepancy between nonverbal problem solving. (eg. Jigsaw puzzles, blocks), and ability to communicate using words.)
What is Fragile X syndrome?
Commonly referred to as the Martin-Bell syndrome or the Marker X syndrome, Fragile X is the most common form of inherited mental retardation in males and a significant cause in females. The inheritance is different from common dominant or recessive inheritance patterns. A fragile area on the X chromosome tends to repeat bits of the genetic code. The more repeats, the more likely there is to be a problem. Boys and girls can both be affected, but because boys have only one X chromosome, a single fragile X is more likely to affect them.
What are some of the signs of Fragile X syndrome?
- Family history of fragile X syndrome or mental retardation.
- Mental retardation.
- Large testicles.
- Tendency to avoid eye contact.
- Hyperactive behavior.
- Large forehead and/or ears with a prominent jaw.
What are some of the signs of CP?
- Difficulty sucking of feeding.
- Irregular breathing.
- Limited range of movements/motions.
- Spasticity.
- Delayed development of motor skills, such as sitting, rolling, crawling and walking.
- Mental retardation.
- Speech abnormalities. (dysarthria)
- Visual abnormalities.
- Hearing abnormalities.
- Seizures.
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