Introduction: Congenital or acquired childhood communication disorders can negatively impact the emotional, social and academic skills in children. Research studies have reported that school going children are at higher risk of having communication disorders which will affect their academic and other skills. However, there is a dearth of studies on epidemiological data on communication disorders in school going children hence the present study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of communication disorders among school going children of Ballari district. Method: In a Cross-sectional study carried out on 2304 school going children (6-16years) of primary and secondary government schools in rural areas of Ballari district, Karnataka were screened using subjective & objective measures for communication disorders. Results: The results revealed a total of 99 out of 2304 children were identified with communication disorders indicating a prevalence rate of 4.29%. Among them, a total of 75 children were having hearing and otological disorders (3.25%) and 24 children were having speech and language disorders (1.04%). Further, the prevalence of communication disorders was found to be higher among males (2.38%) compared to females (1.91%). Conclusion:The present study found a lesser prevalence rate of communication disorder in school aged children of Ballari district, than the previous studies. Hearing loss and otological problems such as impacted cerumen, ear pain, ear discharge, etc., were found to be more than speech-language disorders such as stuttering, speech sound disorders and child language disorders.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The chapter highlights the feeding and swallowing issues seen in children with neuro-developmental disorders, types, and extent of the problem across different disorders; its relation with the neuro-development of the child; effect on the quality of life of the parents/caregivers along with the child, specifically in the Indian context. It also focuses on the importance of assessment, team approach, and review of available tests for the assessment of feeding and swallowing problems in these children. The chapter is also going to give a few insights into the challenges faced by speech-language pathologists during the assessment of the feeding and swallowing issues in these children in the Indian scenario. The chapter will also include a section on applications of ICF model to feeding and swallowing issues in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.