Are more children being unnecessarily diagnosed with disorders?
Are disorders more prevalent today than before?
Are children developing differently and hence actually having a disability to have to cope with in later years?
Yes
Yes
Yes….
It is true that with awareness comes the risk of over diagnosis. Schools today ask for an assessment to be done at the slightest sign of struggle or deviation from the norm. Even developmental milestones cater for delays and early achievers within its range. So yes, we need to give the child a little help and more time to work on the delay before he is labelled with a disorder for life!
Unfortunately, the number of children actually being born with deficits and disorders are more, much more than a few years ago. This can be because of one or many of the changes in life styles. The foods we eat are not in the purest forms, we are surrounded by electronic gadgets that emit their own radiations, etc. We all are aware of how when we take antibiotics for an infection, we face some residual effect like ulcers in the mouth.
Yes it is true that our current lifestyle is having an impact on the developmental milestones. Children from as young as 1 year old are introduced to the tabs and mobiles. They do not get to run and fall and navigate spaces. They do not get to develop spacial awareness or their gross motor coordination. They have less practice with using their pincer grip or developing depth perception that comes with 3D vision development. And yes, these impact academic performance because we find children are not able to write comfortable or read fluently and get bored fast when the gadgets are removed from them.
It is never too late to change and build the skills for life. It is always the right time to do what is right!
#samathalearning Samatha Slc #developmentaldelays #inclusiveeducation #educationforall #sensoryprocessing #occupationaltherapy #specialneeds #earlyintervention #autism #learningdisability
