Four children clustered around a therapist are learning to take turns in asking a question. Picture cards depicting a little one asking for a toffee and a child greeting her teacher help the young ones in learning language use. Another little one has just realised that his temper tantrums won’t get him the attention he wants and that he has to address the adult to get her attention. A toddler’s cheeks are being gently stroked with a soft brush by another therapist. More pictures, and more such interesting aids are part of the language training kit and oromotor kit being used by the Communication DEALL units.

“We are developing more of these teaching aids that will be relevant to Indian conditions and also be inexpensive. We have already developed checklists that can test children in the age group of 0-6yrs on various domains like receptive/expressive language, oromotor skills, social skills etc,” explains Dr Prathibha Karanth, Director of Communication DEALL.

Communication DEALL is an early intervention programme for children with communication disorders that has in the span of seven years helped several children. From one, the number of units has grown to seven and demands for more are coming from even abroad. It was Prathibha Karanth’s extensive work with children having various speech/language disorders that culminated in the development of DEALL (Developmental Eclectic Approach to Language Learning) method. The method works best when children are brought in early. A speech language therapist, an occupational therapist and a special educator or psychologist work as a team.

Communication is critical for a child’s social, emotional and cognitive development. Speech is the chief form of communication that we use. Any delay or deficiency in speech development therefore has a significant impact. The foundation for communication through speech is already laid by the time a child enters school. However, there are quite a number of children with autism spectrum disorders, specific language impairment, developmenal verbal dyspraxia etc whose communication difficulties make it difficult for them to be integrated into mainstream schools without prior help.
 
“It is the adherence to a tight protocol that has helped us achieve results. The children come every week day for half a day and are provided intense training. We constantly monitor their progress and advise the parents on what to do at home” Says Nirupama, the speech language pathologist who works in close conjunction with the occupational therapist to tackle some of the sensory difficulties these children have. Some are hyper sensitive to touch, others to sound or light, some may even ignore sensory stimuli. “It would help a lot if paediatricians and pre-school teachers refer the child to a speech language pathologist when parents express concern about the child’s communication problem. Integration is possible only when we start early. I want more and more children to benefit from this early intervention method. Right now parents who have heard of the programme are relocating and young ones are travelling long distances. I want this programme to be available to them nearer home. I look at Communication DEALL as the “Montessori” for children with communication disorders.” Says Dr Karanth.

With this vision Communication DEALL wants to train allied professionals such as early interventionists, occupational therapists and educators in the DEALL method. With financial assistance from Ratan Tata Trust and Navajbai Trust, the project has taken off in a big way. There are a series of activities being planned. An audio-visual unit to record demonstration therapy sessions for training, networking with other NGOs working in the area and rigourous efficacy studies are some of them. Raising awareness about the issue is also on top of the agenda.

Convincing school authorities to take in children with special needs is no easy task. Despite the professed commitment to integration, few schools are willing to open their doors. The group dynamics of a pre-school in the DEALL model is one of the significant contributors to the children’s improvement. The children also get individual therapy sessions as and when required. Many of them continue to see their therapists even after DEALL. “This is no easy task. We need a trainer child ratio of 1:4 to achieve optimum results. That is why I want more people to be trained in this method. While some children catch up soon, others may take longer. Some children who come in late or have severe difficulties may need to be referred to a special school. But I want to impress on all concerned that excellent results are possible when children are brought in early, between 2-3 years,” stresses the lady.

When you watch 4-year-old Mihir put his arm protectively around 3-year-old Dev, it is difficult to believe that this was the same child who refused to make eye contact just a year ago and the difficult road seems worth travelling.

For more on DEALL call 25800826.