Authors: Chief Investigator:
Pathak Ami. Co Investigators: Doshi Minal,
Szymanski Adam
Abstract
Millennium Development Goals 3 and 4 strive
to universalise education and improve child
survival. Evidence suggests that children
with disabilities, especially girls, face
enormous hurdles in accessing education.
Furthermore, improved child survival rates
do not reveal the total percentage of live
births that may be at risk of developing
disabilities later in life. According to
conservative estimates, one in every ten
individuals is in some manner personally
affected by some form of disability.
It follows that there are nearly 9 million
children every year at risk for disabilities
in developing nations.
Non-provision of appropriate medical and
rehabilitative needs of “high risk”
children will result in a large number of
individuals more likely to develop a disabling
condition later in life, endangering an
individual’s right to achieve full
capacity. Developing nations face many challenges
in provision of early diagnosis and intervention
services, one of which is non-existent information
on the Impact of Early Intervention on a
child’s development.
This study, supported by the Trusts under
their “Inclusion in Practice”
initiative, sought to understand parental
perceptions of effective early intervention
services in Gujarat, India, in order to
highlight gaps in service provision made
so that appropriate programmes and interventions
can be designed and institutionalised. Analyses
revealed that responses of parents in the
target population group were consistent
with previous literature, in identification
of factors important for impactful early
intervention services. Besides skill development
in children, parents indicated, provision
of supportive care to families and active
involvement of parents in programme planning
and implementation, as important factors
influencing their choice.
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