Neurokrish, a city-based neuropsychiatry group, and Trimed, a chain of integrative medical centres, have organised Growing Brains Lab (GBL), a unique integrative medicine programme for children and adolescents with learning and behavioural disorders and subtle neurodevelopmental disability.
“Up to one in five young citizens in a developing nation like India emerge into society with their innate human capital compromised due to a range of Neuro Developmental Disorders (NDD) such as learning disability, childhood epilepsy, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, autistic spectrum disorder.
The list of contributing developmental conditions that strike early and leave lasting impact on the child, is seemingly endless,” says Dr Ennapadam S Krishnamoorthy, founder-director, Neurokrish and Trimed. We have as a nation tended to focus on “normality” in our school systems, leaving little room for those with special needs, a product of their developmental compromise, he says.Difficulty in mastering the three shills (reading, writing and arithmetic) is an early warning sign of NDD.
Falling academic grades, problems with attention and concentration, emotional, behavioural and disciplinary problems at home and in school, confusion about academic choices, rejection of specific subjects or study tasks and a general failure to thrive in the school could also be signs of a disorder. “Around 10 to 20 per cent of schoolchildren are affected by this. This group with what was earlier called “minimal brain dysfunction” are often the poor performers and/or perceived troublemakers in school. Rather than receiving the special attention they deserve, they are at worst punished and at best ignored in many mainstream schools. There is a crying need to ensure that this large group of potential contributors to society’s human capital, receive special attention,” Krishnamoorthy points out. NDD that goes unrecognised poses a range of problems for children that can aggravate as they advance through the educational environment.
GBL is a first-of-its-kind programme that combines neuropsychiatry experience in managing childhood disorders with integrative medicine. “The programme will offer a range of integrative medicine treatments such as ayurveda, mud therapy, reflexology, play-yoga therapy, neurodevelopmental therapy, behavioural therapy and family counselling, art therapy and music therapy to children and adolescents. We’ll do a 360-degree assessment of behaviour, emotion, motor function, family circumstances and diagnose whether the problem is predominantly physical (motor), intellectual (cognitive) or behavioural,” Krishnamoorthy explains. For registrations contact Poorna Rajan at 9500010065 or visit www.neurokrish.com/ www.trimed.co.in