Last Saturday, October 1st, nearly 200 children with developmental disorders, ranging from 6 to 36 months old, were evaluated free of charge at the Center Ann Sullivan del Perú (CASP). The evaluation was carried out by the following specialists: Dr. Stephen Schroeder, Dr. Judith LeBlanc, Dr. Linda Lawrence, Dr. Georgina Peacock, Dr. Jessica Foster and Dr. Tiffay Johnson from the University of Kansas (USA); as well as by the whole CASP team led by Dr. Rosa Oyama. This evaluation is part of the study being carried out thanks to the support of the US National Institutes of Health and Fogarty International.
The study aims to identify children, at an early stage, who are at risk for developing the following behaviors:
1. Aggressive behavior: hitting, biting, threatening other people, etc.
2. Self-injury behavior: head banging, biting self, scratching self, pulling own hair, etc.
3. Repetitive behavior: head rocking, moving hands, body rocking, etc.
These behaviors are some of the hardest developmental disorders in children with different abilities (people with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, among others), because they can lead to a decline in health, prevent community inclusion, have an adverse effect on learning and decrease opportunities for socialization.
It is worth remembering that all participants in this evaluation were selected from more than 1000 children in 2010, and that services in this study are completely free. They also get evaluations performed by a professional team of pediatricians, audiologists, ophthalmologists and psychologists every 6 months (3 times), a monthly follow-up of the development of the child until early 2012, and a final report of the results.
